Drastic Holiday
by Cataglottisme
Summary: Too much attention! Her father wants grandchildren ASAP, the Hyuuga Elders are plotting to strip her of the heiress title, and Tsunade-sama explained that her jounin nomination was 'a bit of a bet, actually’... Hinata just wanted some holiday! -NaruHina-
1. Prologue

**Drastic Holiday** : Future fic.

Hinata is now a jounin executing Lone Missions, and feels satisfied with it. Little does she know that her life is about to change... drastically!

_Mostly chara-introspection and adventure, NaruHina romance. Rated for serious themes, language, bloody fights & bucketloads of UST in later chapters, gratuitous nakedness and Jiraiya's random groping._

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**A/N:** I actually started working on that fic 5 years ago. RL messed things up for a while, but hey, looks like I'm back in business.

Lately, the Naruto manga is kinda nearing a climax of some sort, and no one knows how things will turn out. So, to alleviate our boredom while we wait I created this very very very slightly alternative reality where :  
-**Jiraiya didn't fight Pain alone**, Tsunade was there with him. Both of them were strong enough to defeat Nagato; even though they suffered heavy injuries.  
-With Tsunade temporarily unable to act as a Hokage and Jiraiya in a coma, Danzou managed to get elected Hokage and raised merry hell for a while. (cf. current manga chapters)  
-Naruto did not fight Pain, never learned about Sage mode.  
-Hinata never confessed.

Other than these points, I stick like glue to the Kishi-listic universe. **Canon** is my middle name.

I follow closely the lastest manga developments, so beware of **spoilers**.

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Disclaimer : Owning Naruto? Who, me? Are you crazy or what?

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**Taki no Kuni (Waterfall Country), North District, Takinobori Road.**

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Hyuuga Hinata, jounin kunoichi who'd just turned nineteen, was walking along the muddy road that wound its way through the forest of Takitsubo. Only a few people used that road to travel, mainly because of its complicated path, which tended to lengthen trips instead of shortening them.

Hinata stopped to check her route. She took a small map out of her backpack and unfolded it.

_'Ok, so…I entered Waterfall Country by the Takigawa Pass yesterday… and I'm already in the middle of the Takitsubo forest, so if I keep on like this, I should be in Fire Country tomorrow…which gets me back to Konoha around… yup, Friday.'_

Hinata wiped her brow with the back of her hand. The heat was stifling, her body was drenched in sweat. Her left forearm, encased in the leather gauntlet, was literally slick with perspiration. The scars underneath the gauntlet were itching like crazy.

Hinata glanced back at the map, and her eyes were drawn to a small red mark in the southern part of Waterfall Country. It indicated one of the country's many hot springs. Hinata's former teacher, Kurenai, had told her to stop by on her way back, if she had time.

Hinata was now seriously thinking about doing so. Part of her was a bit uneasy about delaying her return but, after all, the mission in the Earth country had gone without a hitch and she had already sent her report ahead.

Not to mention that the prospect of relaxing in a hot bath to wash off the stress, and the dirt of the road was suddenly very alluring.

'_That's it then, I'm going to the Takibana Inn. And I'll take a nice, long, relaxing day off.'_

Folding the map and placing it back into her bag, Hinata began to head south-east, toward the little inn that was reputed for its hot springs.

She was tired, so very tired. The heat was not helping, and it had been a long mission.

Not complicated or anything... Just long. Going all the way to Iwagakure to deliver a secret scroll, and then back to the Leaf. She was supposed to be a courier from an antique shop in Konoha; that enabled her to travel between countries without being noticed.

And, as usual, it had been a lone mission. She didn't know why, these kinds of missions always ended up being assigned to her.

Well, it might have to do with the fact that she always accepted them without making a sour face. In Konoha, most ninja were trained to work on teams, and people were always reluctant to be separated from their usual team-mates. The only ones who were doing lone missions were the jounin with exceptional talent, like Kakashi-san, or … well, for the less dangerous or the boring ones… people like Hinata had to volunteer.

Kiba and Shino had been incorporated into their own family groups long ago, and Team 8 had finally been dissolved. Kurenai-sensei had asked her if she wanted to be incorporated in another team, but Hinata had politely declined. It was better this way. She was convinced that she wasn't cut out for teamwork. And lone missions kept her away from home.

Hinata was perfectly aware that her decision to delay her return to Konoha had a lot to do with the falling out she had with her father, just before leaving.

She didn't want to go home yet, she wanted some time by herself to think things through.

Hinata sighed and rubbed her neck irritably. Just thinking about it was enough to annoy her.

Now that she was of age, her father had started talking marriage. At first it had been only a word here, a hint there, trying to go for subtle and light.

Unfortunately, since sentences like 'You like children don't you? What about having some of your own?' were her father's idea of subtle, Hinata had understood pretty quickly what he was hinting at.

She'd told him she wasn't ready yet. Maybe, when she turned 20 or 21. She'd said she wanted to work for Konoha a bit more before retiring.

Uh-oh, big fat mistake that had been. Her father's righteous comeback was still ringing in her ears.

"_It is by retiring and producing heirs for the main house that you will serve Konoha best! Come on dear, grow up a bit, will you? We let you go on these silly missions for a while, but now you need to start thinking about the clan."_

That had stung. Deeply.

Hinata had had to fight tooth and nail for the right to go on these lone missions. The Hyuuga heir, wandering unaccompanied through countries? The mere mention of it had been enough to give the Elders a fit.

She had managed to win that right, thanks to the Hokage's support, and to her father's silence. Sure, he hadn't said 'yes' at the time. But he hadn't said 'no' either. He had let the Hokage deal with the Elders without intervening.

But now, even her father was starting to think that this 'silliness' had to stop.

She had left for her mission without telling him goodbye, and without visiting the Elders, as protocol required.

Lone missions were important to her. They were the proof that she had managed to keep at least one of her promises to herself.

There were so many other promises she'd had to break, but she'd finally managed to become a jounin kunoichi.

She refused to be stripped of that achievement just yet.

She'd been so surprised when Mitarashi Anko had told her that she passed. She didn't believe it at first, and it took two whole days to sink in.

Her, a jounin? Jounin meant masters like Kakashi-san, Kurenai-sensei or Gai-sensei. Not 18 year old girls whose weapons were limited to Gentle Fist and Byakugan. She even thought that maybe her father or the Elders, ashamed of the fact that the would-be heiress of the clan was a mere chuunin, had influenced the examiners.

Hinata had a long talk with the Hokage. Tsunade-sama had told her that the jounin potential differed from one person to the next. She told Hinata that she had the skills, she just needed to get to know herself better.

Hinata smiled at the memory.

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"_Okay, it might be a bit of a gamble, but you know what? I think you can do it, Hyuuga Hinata. So stop being so reluctant about it. Cheer up, will you? Besides, I know someone who's going to have a fit if you don't gain some faith in yourself quickly," said the Hokage, giving her a pointed look. _

"_My father is?" _

_Hinata was a bit surprised. Her father had never said anything to her about self-confidence._

_The Hokage sighed heavily. _

"_If only… But no. Uzumaki Naruto."_

"_Wha… But… How….?" _

"_He's been harassing me about that. Telling me that you have the potential and all. He's been a true pain in the neck, lately. He should be lost somewhere in Bumfuck Toad Country, over his head in A-rank missions, but nooo, he still finds time to pester me about his former schoolmates. "_

"_But … Why would Naruto-kun do…", asked Hinata tentatively. _

"_He says that a Hokage can't let great talents be wasted. That we have to look underneath the underneath," the Hokage said, making convulsive gestures with her hands at that point, muttering sentences including the words 'brat' and 'horrible death', pestering about Kakashi-san in the process._

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Naruto-kun had always been good at seeing other people's hidden feelings. Well, not all hidden feelings. Hinata couldn't help but giggle when she remembered her behaviour, up to three years earlier. Fainting at the mere sight of him! What a child she had been…

But now she was an adult, and she had learned some realities the hard way. .

She was better off alone anyway.

The last time she had seen Naruto was still engraved in her mind. Three years ago, it was just after Danzou's coup, when he'd tried to take over Konoha. Tsunade-sama had still been recovering from her injuries, and things had been a bit hectic. The old families had all been in a fix, not knowing what to do, or who to follow.

It was in the middle of all that that Naruto had finally been able to catch up with Sasuke. No one knew exactly what happened between them, except for Sakura who had been there too.

The fight was rumoured to have lasted for days. But no one knew. The only sure thing in that story was its ending: when the three of them had come back to Konoha.

A worse for wear Sakura and a nearly dead Naruto had been carrying Sasuke's limp form. The whole village had welcomed Naruto with cheers and congratulations.

He'd finally managed to bring the last Uchiha back to Konoha! Yes, wonderful, really...

Hospitalized right away, Naruto had avoided death only thanks to Tsunade's determination, disregarding her own injuries.

Sasuke had hovered between life and death for nearly six months, and Sakura had stopped talking. No one could understand what was wrong with her. She had no visible injuries, and yet, she'd been unable to utter a single word. Some medics had said it was a shock-reaction.

Sakura'd spent her time sitting in Naruto's room, just sitting there, silent as the grave. Waiting for him to wake up. People whispered that she hadn't visited even Sasuke.

After a long month, Naruto finally woke up. When she heard about it, Hinata decided to go visit him. There were so many things she wanted to tell him.

But when she arrived in front of Naruto's room, Sakura was already there, as usual.

Hinata had tried to will herself to leave, to give them some privacy, but Naruto's words had rooted her to the spot. She'd listened to the whole talk, unable to stop herself.

_Naruto's voice was soft, but determined._

"_I talked with the Hokage this morning. I'm leaving."_

_Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first. Her throat was sore, after a whole month spent without uttering a sound. She coughed dryly and swallowed. _

"_You can't," her voice was raw, strained. Almost a whisper, really._

"_You can't stop me," answered back Naruto, with a lopsided smile._

"_Sasuke needs you!"_

"_Sasuke has you." _

_Knowing that the relation between these three had not always been simple to begin with, Hinata was surprised by Naruto's tone. It was calm, and encouraging. No trace of the supposed bitterness of a scorned lover._

"_Naruto, the village needs you. Everybody loves you. You can't let them down now."_

_With a sigh, Naruto answered: "Tsunade baa-chan is here for Konoha."_

"_I… I need you."_

"_No you don't," he answered with a low chuckle. "You think you do, because of what happened. But you don't."_

"_I…"_

"_Sasuke needs you."_

"_I don't know if he'll live! I can't bear to hope, only to lose him again! I can't watch him die!"_

"_He'll live. He promised me._ _Sakura… Sometimes, hope is the only thing that keeps us alive. Give him hope. He needs it. After everything that happened, he needs it more than anyone," as a humourless laugh escaped his lips, Naruto added: "The truth is, I don't think I'm ready to face him yet."_

"_I can't believe you're doing this to us." _

_Sakura's voice was strained, but she went on. _

"_You're just running away! I thought you were better than that! We went to hell and back, all three of us. And now you're abandoning us!" _

_Naruto exhaled. This conversation was visibly straining for him._

"_Abandoning... You think so?… I don't know…"_

_Sakura got up from her chair so fast that she sent it clattering to the floor: "The team 7 is finally back together, and you're telling me you want to leave? Now that Sasuke is finally back? Now that we can start everything over? I can't believe it!"_

_"Start everything over, you say...? I don't think we can 'start over'. No one can erase what happened, and...'_ _Naruto paused. "Anyway, I don't have my say in this. This is a direct order from the Hokage."_

"_Direct order? You've never listened to orders before!_ _You're just using it as an excuse!"_

_Sakura ran out the room without noticing Hinata, who was standing just outside. _

_Naruto was sitting on the bed, in front of the window, his shoulders slumped. After a few seconds, Hinata heard him sigh, saw him climb out the window and disappear. _

_Hinata stayed at the door, unnoticed, a flower bouquet crushed in her hands._

_She was still there, ten minutes later, when Sakura came back. _

_"Naruto, listen, I..." _

_When the kunoichi saw that Naruto's room was empty, she punched at the wall angrily. "Men! What's with them, always running away! And Naruto, out of all people!"_

_Then she started crying softly. "I couldn't stop him… First Sasuke, and now him... Why is it happening again? Why..."_

Hinata hadn't been able to say a word. She had wanted to say something soothing, to be helpful, to try to comfort Sakura. But deep down, she had known it wasn't for her to do. So she had gathered the petals that had fallen to the ground, and left the hospital corridor without turning back.

No one really knew what had happened between these three. Most of the villagers thought that Naruto had managed to catch Sasuke, that 'renegade', to 'kick his lily white ass back into submission', and that Sakura had been there to pick up the pieces.

Hinata didn't believe it. First, Sakura was not the kind of girl to stay idle while her two team-mates were fighting to death.

And there were the other rumours. The ones that were debated furiously by adults behind closed doors. The ones that said that the three of them had actually been fighting against someone else, someone much stronger. That the fight which nearly killed Team 7, had saved Konoha from a dire fate, stopped the 4th Ninja War, or even saved the world, take your pick.

After a long time, nearly six months, Sasuke had been discharged from the hospital. Sakura had been waiting for him, and since that day, they'd always been together, along with Kakashi-san.

But Naruto had not returned to Konoha.

'_Still, I wonder, where is Naruto-kun, and what he is up to…' _

She was still musing over that question when she reached the Takibana Inn.

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**Taki no Kuni, Takibana Road, South District.**

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Naruto Uzumaki was sulking. A pretty good sulk actually, complete with sullen dragging of feet, perpetual shoulder hunching, and the occasional nasty kick at whatever rock was within reach. For good measure, he added heavy sighs from time to time.

He was tired, hot, and cranky. Everything was the hermit's fault, he decided.

But Jiraiya remained unfazed, humming a bawdy song under his breath, a blade of grass stuck between his lips. That old fart was even pushing the provocation as far as walking with a light bounce in his steps.

Naruto angrily kicked at a stone sitting in the middle of the path and exhaled heavily at the same time. That seemed to do the trick, because Jiraiya actually stopped in his tracks and spat out the blade of grass.

"Come on Naruto, stop skulking will you. Why are you being such a sourpuss, huh? It's a nice day, and we're having a nice walk in the forest. Don't you feel swell?"

"Shut your trap, old leech. This is all your fault." There. He'd said it. Hurray for constructive criticism.

" Aw, you're still angry about that? Come on, give me a break. I had to check her out, right?"

Naruto spun around angrily: "I don't want to hear about it!" he yelled, wagging an angry finger in front of the hermit nose. "You knew she was the daughter of that old dragon of an innkeeper, and you still had to grope her! We were just barely tolerated before, but now we can kiss that inn goodbye too! We have only one inn that still accepts us in this country, and it's fucking _lost_ in the _middle_ of a fucking giant _forest_!"

"Tut tut tut… My dear student, watch your mouth will you. I can feel inspiration flowing around me, in this peaceful journey. You're ruining everything."

"Whatever."

This time, the sullen silence lasted several minutes. At least six. Maybe seven. Naruto sighed in exasperation. He hated travelling by foot without talking.

Any kind of talk was better than that.

"Hey, old perv. I've been having the strangest dream lately."

"Does it involve a busty young beauty? Then I don't want to know. You're too old to ask me why you woke up with your pants wet and your little bir-"

Naruto turned around and threw his hands up in the air in disgust "Oh, shut up will you! I knew I shouldn't have asked you! You can't be serious for a single minute."

Jiraiya held his hands up in a placating manner "There, there, I'm listening. Tell everything to uncle Jiraiya."

Naruto huffed and resumed walking.

"No, it's just… It's strange you know. I've been having this dream lately. It's always the same dream. I'm fighting someone way too strong for me, someone who's managed to wipe out Konoha. And I'm pinned to the ground, I can't move, it's like all my strength is being drained away. Kyuubi's AWOL, and my chakra is disappearing like whoa."

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow and commented, "Typical shinobi dream there. Good ole _'I can't fight back, I'm dead meat, woe is me'_ fear. Konoha must stand for your inner-self, your strength, and seeing it destroyed, you feel powerless."

"Well, that's what I thought at first. But when my opponent is about to kill me off, someone jumps in, it looks like a girl I should know, but I can't see her face. And she stands her ground in front of that ridiculously strong opponent who levelled Konoha in a minute."

At this, Jiraiya took a notebook from one of his overcoat pockets, and started scribbling furiously. "Interesting. Do go on."

"Well. She refuses to take any crap from him, even though she must know she's already lost the battle. And I yell at her to run away, to get away from there, that she's going to get killed… I don't know why, but I'm scared shitless. I'm sure she's going to get killed. But she stands her ground. She doesn't look at me, she just says 'It's ok. I don't mind dying as long as it's to protect you. You already saved me, I can give up my life for you, yadda, yadda…' well, the kind of crap you only find in cheap romance books, you know, like the ones you write," snarled Naruto, giving the old man a pointed look.

Naruto refused to tell the Sennin about the next part of the dream, where the girl told him she'd always loved him, and other embarrassing things the Hermit didn't need to know.

Jiraiya tilted his head, pondering. "I don't know… I actually think that kind of sentence is really wonderful, when it is said honestly. I mean, do you realise how much you must love someone to be willing to die for them? Hm?"

"Yeah, whatever you say." Damn that old leech, it was useless to try to hide things from him, he _always guessed_ them anyway.

"Did that mysterious woman mention how you saved her?"

"Nah, she speaks in riddles. She just says that my smile saved her. Whatever that means."

"And then, what happens to her?"

"I don't know, I wake up."

Jiraiya lifted his arms in mock despair "Oh, you anti-climatic bastard!"

"What?"asked Naruto, bewildered.

"No, just, that would have been a perfect scene for my next book," Jiraiya whined.

"Hey, don't use my dreams to promote your filthy porn! Anyway, she ain't the most important part! I'm more worried about that opponent."

Jiraiya gave him a thoughtful look. "I actually think the girl is the most important part here."

"You always think women are the most important thing ever."

"It's because they are. Now tell me, what did she look like?"

"I told you, I can't see her face in my dreams."

"what about her size? Hair? Age?"

Naruto thought for a bit. "My age, roughly… as for the size, I don't know… medium. A tad on the small side maybe. And long black hair, untied. It catches in the wind and whips about her neck. That's all I remember."

Jiraiya nodded appreciatively and continued writing.

"Poetic. Nothing else? I mean, you're pinned to the ground, right?"

"Yes."

"And she stands in front of you, right? She says she's going to protect you, so she must stand between you and your opponent, right?"

"Yes…"

"So, what's her fighting stance? Defensive? Offensive? Any weapon?"

Naruto stood speechless for a few seconds. The hermit was really taking things seriously for once. He'd been right, that dream must mean something, for Jiraiya to be that hyped.

"Offensive taijutsu, definitely. No weapons."

"Taijutsu is good, really good. Taijutsu offensive stances tend to have the woman's backside stick out a bit. If you're lying on the ground just behind her, my boy, you must have a very nice view on her surely delightful backside. Tell me a bit more."

"Aw, I can't BELIEVE you."

"Stop acting like a prude, will you."

"I'm not even listening to you!" fumed Naruto.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," said Jiraiya apologetically. "I'll be serious. Anything else about that girl? Any distinctive features? This can be really important you know. In dreams, every little detail counts."

"No." Naruto paused, and racked his mind. "Well, if you want a really _really_ little detail, she has a little mole just below her left ankle. "

"Hm. Very interesting, that. You have a good memory, my boy."

"Well, she is standing just in front of me, her ankle is literally the only thing I can see."

"Good, good. So, ankle you say?" Jiraiya tore a new page from his notebook, and started scribbling furiously.

"Yes…" Naruto gave the hermit a dubious look, but couldn't help but ask, "do you think it has a meaning?"

"Hm? In the dream, you mean? Oh, no. Not at all. I might use that in my book. It's just that ankle lacks spice, so I'm changing it for her inner thigh. The hero can see it when she jumps in front of him : her short skirt fluttering on the wind ('revealing a large expense of creamy white skin' sounds alluring, don't you think?), with a mole nested in her inner thigh, like a promise of paradise that appears every time she takes a step."

Naruto gave the old man a dejected look. Was he doing it on purpose?

"You're really hopeless," spat Naruto.

"Come on, stop pouting, we've arrived!"

Jiraiya pointed at a wooden building, just at the end of the road. The gate leading to the inner courtyard was only a few feet away, and the large wooden sign said 'Takibana Inn, renowned hot springs'

"I'm not blind, old fart."

"Naruto, stop pouting like that, that reminds me the morning you _did_ wake up after an interesting dream, and you-"

"That's it, I've had enough!" Naruto threw his backpack to the ground, bit his thumb to draw blood and quickly performed a string of seals before yelling "Ninpou, Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Jiraiya dodged the huge toad that had appeared in front of him. "Why so much hatred, my dear student?"

"Today is the day you die, old fart! Swamp of the Under-"

"Stop! What the heck are you doing? You want to ruin that Inn too? How many times must I tell you, the Swamp is not to be used in small places! Not with your stamina! Stupid student… Underworld Spines!"

"Gah! Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

"Ninpou, Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Two can play that game, my dear boy!"

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End of:

Drastic Holiday, prologue.

.o0O0o.

TBC in:

'Chapter One : Drastic Beginning.' (aka : Nudity Advances the Plot.)

Where :  
-Groping happens,  
-Naruto is totally oblivious,  
-Jiraiya learns the meaning of 'fear',  
-Hinata's braids have a major role to play,  
-Jiraiya forgets pretty quickly the meaning of 'fear'.

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A/N : Sorry about Aunty Exposition. She tends to rant a bit at first, but she is a necessary evil.

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**Classified Ads**

Desperate author looking for beta fast enough to tackle 10 000 words in 2 weeks.  
Grammar Nazi and Punctuation-Fu black belts only.  
Remuneration : Eternal gratitude, and the author is willing to pay in one-shots ( 1 one-shot per chapter betaed), the beta gets to pick the characters involved and the first sentence.  
Please contact author via PM or review.


	2. 01 Drastic Beginning

**Chapter 1**: Where the scene takes place, Naruto pesters a lot, Jiraiya is being childish and Hinata is a bit lost.

**A/N** :Because **nudity** advances the **plot**! No, really, it does.  
Aunty Exposition is still amongst us today, but she promised to leave soon. *glares*  
Many thanks to all who reviewed.  
This chapter is dedicated to **britata348**, for her kind words.

**Disclaimer:**Been there, done that, never claimed I owned the NaruCast…  
Writing is easy, writing in _correct English_ is not. Many thanks to **Ken** and **BoredomIsAnUnderstatement**.

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**Drastic Holiday**

**Chapter One : Drastic Beginning.**

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_Takibana Inn, Waterfall Country._

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As she neared the building, Hinata felt giddy. It was going to be her first holiday since she had been promoted to chuunin, so she'd better enjoy it!

The Takibana Inn was modest but lovely, built mainly of wood, its roof covered with shining green slate. It was typical of Waterfall Country architecture, built to handle the muggy heat of the Waterfall Country summer, with sliding doors and large windows to provide a constant stream of air. The Takibana Inn was reputed for two things: their production of high class _umeshuu_, a very delicate plum liquor, and their hot springs. It was situated near a natural lake that was well known for its high mineral density and the inn used that lake's water for its pools.

But in the inn's courtyard, a scene of devastation greeted her. Plenty of trees and bushes were broken or burned, wooden benches were destroyed, and deep holes here and there in the ground gave the moss garden a lunar aspect.

In the middle of this apocalyptic scenery, a blond woman in a dark blue robe tied with a white sash was scribbling something down on a note pad, examining a broken bench and muttering "So what if that bench was old and moldy, and we were going to change it next month? They don't need to know that, do they? This makes a total of three broken benches, two gardenia bushes burned down to err, next to nothing, four large clay pots crushed by a big toad's butt, one pine tree broken in half… This is _so_ going to be added to their bill…"

As Hinata walked closer, the woman finally seemed to take notice her. She looked surprised to see someone at first, but then smiled and bowed to Hinata.

"Welcome to the Takibana Inn, my name is Minawa. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like a room for two days. Is that possible?"

The words had slipped out of Hinata's mouth before she had the time to think.

'_Two days? I guess I really don't want to go home yet…'_

"Oh, of course!" answered the woman, laughing. Seeing Hinata's quizzical look, she explained further, "It's soon going to be the country's foundation day, you see. Everyone is in the capital to celebrate. We only have two other customers right now, so don't worry, we have room for you! Follow me please."

The blond woman, apparently unfazed by the havoc surrounding them, led the kunoichi inside the inn and asked for her name so she could write it down in the register. As usual, Hinata gave the alias ( Nei Beniko) and fake occupation she used on missions.

The woman then led her to her room, while informing her of the particularities of the inn:

"The baths are open from 4 to 10 in the morning, and from 5 to 12 in the evening. They are closed in between for cleaning purposes. In your room, you will find a set of light clothes to wear during your stay, as well as towels. Soap and shampoo can be found in the bathing area."

"Thank you, I will remember that."

"If you need anything, just call for us," said the woman as she opened the sliding doors that lead to Hinata's room. "Please enjoy your stay at the Takibana Inn."

With that, she bowed deeply and left.

Hinata entered the room, marvelling at its decoration. The room was small but beautiful, with a balcony facing the forest. Hinata knew that she was really going to enjoy her stay.

She put her bag down on the floor carefully and took off her black jacket. As she caught her own reflection in the mirror, she was surprised to see her usually white face dark with dust and mud. No wonder the inn's employee had given her a frazzled look when she had first seen her. She desperately needed a bath.

After hiding some important documents under the floorboards, she checked the towels and the clothing set, composed of a _yukata_ and a sash. The weather was so hot and muggy during the summer, these light clothes were simply perfect. She grabbed them, along with the towels, and set off toward the baths, padding softly down the hallways.

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_Bathing Pools of the Takibana Inn_

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There were actually three pools, each a different size and color. Hinata took off her clothes, folded them neatly, and left them in a bamboo case in the changing area. She took off the leather gauntlet encasing her left forearm last, revealing the red scars.

Sometimes, in the morning or after hours of meditation, Hinata could barely see them. But when she was tired, they tended to stand out, red and angry looking. This was when it hurt the most, too.

But she'd gotten used to the pain. After all, it was nowhere near as painful now as it had been in the beginning.

_

* * *

_

6 months ago, Mount Takao, Fire Country

_Hinata bit her lip as she watched the unconscious boy on the table in front of her. He was lying on his back__, his eyes glazed over. His bo__dy was twitching, wracked with nervous spasms, and saliva ran from his mouth down his cheeks. The old medicine woman bent over him__ and put her__ two hands on his brow __before shaking her head._

"_This is not good. It looks like he's been in that state for a while. Where did you find him?" she asked Hinata without sparing the young kunoichi a glance.  
_"_In the forest, he was just lying on the ground. He was already unconscious when I found him." _

_Hinata had been on her way back from a mission in Sand Country. She had decided to cut through the Mount Takao forest to get back to Konoha faster. She'd stumbled upon the boy's body halfway down the mount's slope. "You were the nearest house, so I brought him here. Do you think I should take him to the village?"  
__The woman snorted. "If I can't save him, no one in the village can."  
_"_What happened to him?"  
_"_He is being possessed by a Tengu, a forest sprite," the woman spat on the floor, as if to rid her mouth of the word's taint. "Good for nothing, dirty little leeches, they are. The boy'll stay like that a couple of days, and then he'll die." _

_Hinata's heart tightened. This kid surely had a family, people waiting for him to come back. He could not be older than ten. _

_The old woman had started rummaging in a pile of dusty scrolls.  
_"_Well. There's something we might try,"she quipped.  
_"_Really?" asked Hinata, suddenly hopeful.  
_"_Yes." The old woman stopped searching and turned around to face Hinata. "But I'm going to need your help."  
_"_Anything!"  
__At this, the woman squinted at her. "Anything, really?" she asked in a suspicious tone.  
_"_Yes! If it can save him!" Hinata was desperate. She just couldn't let this boy die if there was a way to save him. She had stumbled on him by chance, it had only been sheer luck that she'd activated her byakugan to check on her surroundings. Now, Hinata felt responsible for the boy's life.  
_"_Then we're going to try to lure the Tengu out of him. Tengu always go for kids, because they have the most life energy. But it could work with you. You're young and you're still pure, so we have a chance."  
__Hinata felt her cheeks redden at this, but she remained focused. "What should I do?"  
_"_Give me your arm. We'll trap it in your body, somewhere it can't reach your spirit. If it can't connect to a human spirit, it should die pretty quickly."  
__Hinata took off her overcoat and extended her left arm trustingly toward the old woman, who was holding a strand of black rope. She spat on it and muttered a few words before tying it tightly around Hinata's arm, just below the elbow.  
_"_Put your hand on his forehead. I'll push the Tengu out of him. As soon as you can feel it in your arm, let go of the boy. Understood?"  
_"_I understand."  
__The medicine woman stood on the other side of the boy and started massaging his neck.  
__At first, Hinata felt nothing. But suddenly, a searing pain was burning her fingers. It felt like putting her hand on a red-hot poker. She almost took her hand away, in reflex.  
_"_Do not let go, you silly girl!"  
__Using all her will power, Hinata pressed her hand firmly on the boy's forehead, gritting her teeth.  
__The pain was excruciating. She could feel something moving under her skin, tearing through her arm.  
_"_Let go! Let go now!" yelled the old woman._

_Hinata let go immediately, and collapsed to the floor. Her skin was starting to break and blood was already pooling on the ground. In a second the old woman was beside her, she slapped another strand of black rope just over her wrist and the pain subsided a bit. But the blood did not stop, and her chakra holes were leaking dark blue chakra, instea__d of the pale color it was normally.  
_"_You did a good job my girl. You're tough," said the woman, patting her shoulder.  
_"_How… How is the child…?" gasped Hinata. She managed to get up, slowly, her legs barely supporting her. The medicine woman pointed at the table and huffed, "He's right as rain, __the lu__cky brat," before leaving the room.  
__The kid was sitting on the table, his hair damp with sweat. He gave Hinata a panicked look.  
_"_Nee-chan, what happened to your arm?!"  
_"_YOU happened!" came the muffled reply from another room. The old woman came back with a white sheet she had ripped to create a makeshift bandage for Hinata's arm.  
_"_Her arm will be okay, you silly boy. Who are you?"  
_"_I'm Takeshi, ma'am, son of the smithy."  
_"_And do you often walk alone in the forest, Takeshi?"  
__The boy seemed to sense that this was a trick question and hesitated before answering "uh… Sometimes?"  
_"_From now on, you won't. Not until you're adult. You bear the mark of a Tengu. If you go back there, you're going to die, There won't be another young lady to__ save you n__ext time."  
_"_Uh…" the boy gave a hesitant look at Hinata.  
_"_Listen to me!" snapped the medicine woman, "you must not go back!"  
_"_Yes, ma'am!"  
_"_Good. Now, off you go," said the old woman, opening the front door and shooing the boy outside.  
__Hinata gathered her overcoat and her bags. She couldn't use her left arm at all, the pain nearly made her scream out. She bowed to the old woman.  
_"_I'll go too. I'll walk him back to the village."  
__The woman gave Hinata's arm a pointed look. "You and I both know that you need to rest," she said.  
_"_No, no, I'm fine, I should have left already," answered Hinata with a bow.  
__The medicine woman raised an eyebow. "I guess you're more foolish than I thought. You want to go for a hike after what you just did, be my guest." The woman waved towards the open door._

_Hinata felt her cheeks burn slightly but she said nothing as she stumbled out of the hut and on her way. __She walked Takeshi back to his village, which was only ten minutes away from the old woman's hut._

_The boy kept chattering happily all the way, holding onto her right hand, but Hinata couldn't focus enough to understand what he was saying. In front of the village _Torii_, the boy let go of her hand after a last squeeze. "Thank you for picking me up, nee-chan. I won't forget you! Ever!" And he ran away with a last smile._

_Konoha was only 10 Ri from Mount Takao, and Hinata could cover that distance in a couple of hours on her good days. That day, it had taken her nearly 15 hours to walk back to the Leaf. __When she finally arrived in Konoha, it was already pitch-black. In a daze, she went to the Hokage's office to deliver her report, but when she arrived in front of the torch-lit building, everything went black._

_When Hinata woke up, she was in the hospital, her left arm bandaged and numb. The Hokage was sitting beside her bed, reading her report. Noticing that Hinata had regained consciousness, she spoke.  
_"_Tell me what happened. And I'm not talking about the Sand Country bit."_

_After Hinata finished talking, Tsunade rubbed her eyes wearily.  
_"_You've been a foolish girl, Hyuuga Hinata. That was very rash of you," she sighed. "There isn't much I could do. The seals messed up the chakra flow in your left arm. I tried to undo them, but they were really botched. I did what I could, but it's far from being perfect."_

"_Thank you," whispered Hinata._

"_Don't thank me," retorted the Hokage, "your chakra is flowing freely for now, but I can't say what will happen when you're under duress…" the Hokage stood up and started walking toward the window, before resuming, as if talking to herself, "if only I had a seal expert here with me… But the only one who might know something is not available right now, and isn't to come back to Konoha for another two and a half years…"  
_"_It's okay," said Hinata softly. "But, please, could you not tell my family about it?"  
__At this the Hokage turned around and gave Hinata a thoughtful look. "Why not?"  
_"_Well," Hinata swallowed, "they don't like the idea of me going to lone missions, to begin with. I had to talk a lot with them, make a lot of concessions. If Father or the Elders were to learn that something like that happened, I'm afraid I wouldn't be allowed to go on lone missions anymore."  
__The Hokage's expression softened at this. "You really like these, huh?"  
_"_I do."  
_"_Then it's a deal. You do realize that that family of yours is not exactly easy to fool, when it comes down to chakra, Miss Hyuuga?" asked the Hokage.  
__Hinata looked intently at the ceiling.  
_"_Well, I guess it can't be helped. I think I have something you could use though, a gauntlet to conceal charka flow or something like that. They won't be able to look at the chakra pathways if you wear it. If they ask you why you're wearing it, just tell them it's an order."  
_"_Thank you so much, Hokage-sama."  
_"_Don't thank me, I'm only doing my job… But you have to promise me, no more listening to old crones, okay?"  
_"_I understand, Hokage-sama," answered Hinata meekly.  
_"_And please do not put me in that category too."  
__Hinata spluttered, "Hokage-sama, I would never-"  
_"_Just wanted to make it clear," said the Tsunade, waving Hinata's explanations away. "I mean, you could have lost your arm, here."  
_"_I understand, Hokage-sama."  
__She gave Hinata a long look and exhaled heavily before leaving the room._

* * *

Hinata shook herself out of her reverie and stepped into the bathing area, a small towel folded under her arm. She was alone.

She knelt down by the showers, and let hot water run down her long hair. She grabbed the shampoo bottle, gently squeezed some into her palm, and started washing her hair. When she was done, she rinsed it carefully, and combed it to get it straight. She started plaiting it, beginning with the hair at her temples, slowly incorporating strands in the braids as she progressed toward the crown of her head. She twisted the thick tresses in a bun and fixed it at the back of her head with a simple hairpin.

Hinata had changed her hairstyle a few years ago, when she was sixteen. She had wanted long hair, so she had let it grow. Since it was a hassle during training, she had came up with the braiding and the bun hairstyle, keeping short bangs loose on her forehead.

This had earned her a rare compliment from her father. He had said that, with her hair pulled back in that way, she looked exactly like her mother. He had even added softly that she was turning into a beautiful woman.

Hinata didn't think of herself as beautiful. She was convinced that parents were naturally biased when it came to their children. But still, that comment had touched her. Her mother had not been the most stunningly beautiful woman in Konoha, but she had a nice oval face, and purity and kindness practically radiated from her features. Hinata had always thought of her mother's face as reassuring,

Having conscientiously washed her body twice to get rid of all the dust and mud accumulated during the trip, she prepared herself to enter the nearest pool. It was said that the milky white water of these pools was the best for the skin in all of Waterfall country.

Hinata dipped a foot in it and hissed. It was so hot… Well, better get in quickly or else she'd still be here by tomorrow morning. She couldn't help but let out a small moan of pain as the hot water engulfed her, as her left forearm was burning her the most.

She snorted, clenching her teeth to ignore the pain.

Soon, her body adjusted to the scalding heat and she could feel all her muscles beginning to relax in the hot water. She dipped her small towel in the water and wiped her face with it. The water had a slightly salty taste. It was … truly paradise.

Hinata leaned her head backward, and let the hot water wash away her fatigue.

.

.

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Takibana Inn, Room 24_

.

.

Naruto was not exactly happy.

"Damn, damn, DAMN! Jiraiya, get your ass down here, NOW!"

They had an agreement, for fuck's sake! They were supposed to _share_ the hotel fees. The old pervert had actually sworn that he was going to respect the deal.

B, A and S rank missions paid well, so Naruto had to admit he wasn't exactly _poor_. But still, they had agreed to share! They had fucking agreed! And now that it was time to pay, the old pervert had run away again. Jiraiya was filthy rich, but that damned penny-pincher was STILL using Naruto's money to pay the bills.

"JIRAIYA!" Naruto bellowed, fuming, while running out of his room and down the hall. He was in a bad mood. A really, really bad mood.

Since they had arrived he hadn't had a single second to relax; he had to get things ready for the next mission, to check plans and weapons, and since the old toad was NOWHERE in sight, he had to do it all by himself. He'd wanted to eat and to get a bath, but nooo, he'd had to work. And now Minawa had just given him the bill for the destruction in the courtyard and _he_ had to pay, while it was Jiraiya's attacks that broke most of the trees and benches.

On top of that, the perverted side of the hermit was running amok. Before he was only peeking, but since a couple of months ago, he was _groping_ too. Senile dementia, here it goes… They had had to change their hotels twice last week. Nearly desperate, Naruto had resorted to going back to the Takibana Inn. Here lived the only woman Jiraiya was afraid of.

Love can be scary, indeed. Neither of them knew what her name was, they simply called her 'Okami-san', like the rest of the inn staff did. She was the owner of the Takibana estate. She was surely over fifty, and apparently thought that make-up could put up with the years passing by. Naruto shuddered. The most terrifying thing about her was the insane glint in her eyes each time she saw Jiraiya.

Last time they stopped by, Minawa had to ask them to leave, because Okami-san sporting a décolleté was scaring the others customers off their meal.

Suddenly a shrill voice stopped Naruto dead in his tracks.  
"Naru-chan, sweetheart, come here."  
'_Crap… her, of all the luck…'  
_"Yes Okami-san, right away," answered Naruto with faked enthusiasm. He walked deliberately slowly toward her, a bit apprehensive. He wasn't too fond of the 'chan' and 'sweetheart' parts.  
"What can I do for you, Okami-san?"  
"Did you see your wonderful master?"  
'_Master…?'_ Naruto couldn't help but twitch in displeasure. "No, Okami-san, I have not seen my _teacher_ recently."  
"Oh, pity. If you see him, tell him that I terribly miss his wonderfully male and powerful body. I've been waiting for him, you know… His memory helped to keep me warm in the long, cold, winter nights…"  
Naruto's face contorted at this. _'Uh oh. Too much information.'  
_Okami-san went on, apparently unfazed by Naruto's reaction.  
"You know, he has much more presence than any other man I ever knew. And trust me, I've seen my fair share of male bodies… But Jiraiya-sama is … so… so overwhelming! When I see him, I feel all...hmmm."  
'_Yes, definitely too much.'  
_"You know, Naru-chan, I'm going to tell you a secret."  
'_Nonononono. Please don't.'  
_"I can feel that one day, you're going to turn just like your master. You're still too young, but one day, you'll mature into a beautiful love fruit, ripe for the picking…"  
Something in Naruto's mind just keeled over and died. '_Agnnnn.'  
_"Want me to help you mature faster, Naru-chan?" purred the woman.  
That was too much for Naruto.  
He jumped backward, arms flailing, "Hey, no, really, I'm afraid I'm not worth your time. But you know what, Okami-san? I'll go look for Jiraiya, and I'll send him to you straight away! See you later!" This said, he sprinted away from her as fast as he could.  
A bath. He needed a bath.

Now.

.

.

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Bathing Pools of the Takibana Inn, Women Side._

.

.

Hinata looked at her left arm. It was completely white now that she was relaxed, there were no traces of her scars.

'_If I don't get out of the pool now, I'm going to pass out from the heat…'_

Reluctantly, Hinata sat up and stepped out of the water. She got up too fast, though, and became slightly dizzy. With a grunt she closed her eyes and tried to get a grip on her senses. Within seconds, her mind was thankfully clear again.

She couldn't help but smile at her own clumsiness as she began to walk toward the changing room, using her small towel to wipe the water droplets running down her neck and between her breasts. Hot springs were great, with or without the dizzy part.

Still drowsy from the heat, she never noticed the shadowy silhouette moving toward her from behind. She just had the time to hear a man's chuckle before feeling two arms sneak past her waist, knocking her arms aside to seize her breasts.

Suddenly, the kunoichi's world went very still, and years of training were forgotten. Hinata could only stay numb in shock, stiff as a board as cold shudders started running down her spine.

The man's hands were now openly … groping her breasts.

No one… had ever… touched her… and now she was being assaulted by… some kind of disgusting pervert… she was alone… her body not responding… she couldn't move at all, she was rooted to the spot… and he had his hands on her breasts, the towel wasn't doing a great job at keeping his hands away...

HIS _hands_… on HER _breasts_…

"Hmm, young lady… Nice round ones you have here, yup… Quite big to boot… My lady, your boyfriend must be one of the happiest men in this country..."

When the man's words finally reached her brain, Hinata almost died of shame. In her misery, she found her voice.

For the first time in her life, Hyuuga Hinata got really loud.

.

.

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Bathing Pools at the Takibana Inn, Men Side._

.

.

Naruto was just beginning to relax in the warm water when he heard Jiraiya's voice and the terrified scream that followed. A very woman-ish scream. Typical scream one would produce if some old pervert just happened to pounce on her and started to grope her. Yup, definitely that kind of scream.

The blond ninja cursed through gritted teeth. He got out of the water as fast as he could, and grabbed a towel to put around his waist before easily jumping over the ten-foot tall bamboo palisade separating the male and female bathing areas.

He immediately spotted Jiraiya standing behind a naked woman, his hands dangerously near her breasts.

"Stupid old LECH!" yelled Naruto as he covered the distance between them in a few jumps and launched his fist right at his teacher's chin. Jiraiya didn't have the time to dodge and was abruptly sent from Heaven to Hell, careening across the room, ending in a pool with a loud splash.

Naruto ran after him, letting the woman fall to her knees, her head bowed down in shock. He would take care of her later. Now he needed to make sure that the old toad didn't run away.

After jumping into the pool, the young shinobi grabbed his teacher's shirt and bodily hauled him out of the warm water before snarling, "That's it! That does it! That FUCKING DOES IT! I've had it with all these problems! You're going to pay the bill this time!"

Jiraiya spat some water before smirking. "Keh, as if you could make me, brat."

At this, Naruto smiled. A nasty smile, with teeth. Lots of teeth.

His mentor was still underestimating him. Very well. He would show him his true strength, here and now. "You might be right, old crap. But you know what? Someone offered to help." Seeing the older ninja's blank face, Naruto mouthed 'Okami-san' with some cruel pleasure.

"Nooo..." Jiraiya blanched, "you wouldn't..."

"Ohh, try me, will ya? In normal times, I wouldn't go that far. But I'm quite fed up with you now. I planned to have a nice relaxing week in this calm little inn, and what do you do? Behave, just for once? Nooo, that's too much to ask you… You had to harass the ONLY other customer, didn't you? Now come on, we can't have Okami-san waiting for you any longer, can we?"

Naruto climbed out of the pool and walked toward the woman, trailing his now limp teacher behind.

As she slowly stood up, trying to cover her front with a small towel, he stopped a few feet away from her, and bowed deeply. With his head still down, he started speaking.

"I'm truly sorry for everything that occurred. We are willing to compensate for the trouble." Naruto had lost count of how many times he had had to say that sentence in the last six months. He glared down at Jiraiya who was currently whimpering on the floor, and he had to fight the urge to kick him. "Ready to pay the bill, old perv?"

The white-haired man clutched pathetically at his student's legs, eyes watering. "Yes, anything, my prized pupil, just don't take me to that harpy..."

Jiraiya was trying his best to look miserable, Naruto had to admit. But still, a little fright never killed anyone… He was about to reply when suddenly the woman spoke. She had a small, fluttering voice.

"Naruto-kun...Is that you?"

"Huh?"

Naruto stood up and gazed at the woman's face. Did he know her?

Hmm… Average height, maybe a tad on the small side for a woman… She was quite pretty with her small oval face, complimented by the two glistening braids running from her temples to the back of her head. Wet bangs were clinging to her forehead, a stark contrast between the white skin and dark hair. The fright she'd just had had left her cheeks rosy, and her nose slightly pinched. That gave her a kind of suffused frailty Naruto found touching.

All in all, a simple but lovely match. And Naruto wasn't the kind to forget a woman with such a nice pair of knockers, nope… Then, where? Hmmm….

Hm...

Hmmmmmm….

"HAH!" Suddenly, realization dawned upon him. Those eyes, that face… Letting immediately go of Jiraiya, he started gushing happily "Hinata! I didn't recognize you with those b…braids! You've changed so much! I can't believe it! Someone from Konoha! It's been sooo long!" Naruto moved forward to hug her, in spontaneous joy of seeing someone from his old village.

"Ah…" Hinata's face turned red as she took a step backward, almost losing her balance over the wet floor.

"Huh...?" Naruto looked lost for a second, but then comprehension came to him. Hinata was pretty nude, the towel and her small arms weren't covering much flesh. Naruto had the grace to blush, before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Ha.. haha... hahahaha, I'm sorry, I didn't notice that you were… huh we are...err... kinda... Well, that's not the point. We'll go put on something, and, err, we'll meet outside, okay?"

Hinata nodded slowly.

Naruto gave her one last smile before grabbing Jiraiya by the arm and turning on his heels, jumping back to where he had come from.

Once they were back in the male side, Naruto let go of his teacher, who huffed and straightened his clothes, taking an offended look.

"Brat, you didn't notice that she was 'kinda nude'? Psha, I sure did. Don't tell me I've raised you to be so slow-witted…" Jiraiya mumbled before sitting down on the floor, rubbing his sore chin.

Hearing this, Naruto turned down at him and hissed, eyes ablaze, "You, you shut your trap! What did you do to Hinata? She's a very old friend! I swear, if you laid a finger on her, I'm going to-"

Jiraiya looked totally scandalized. "One finger? Don't you know me or what? I laid my **two **hands on her lovely breasts, thank you very much. Who do you take me for?"

Naruto felt his own aura flare in a surge of anger. Baring his teeth, he grunted, "Wrong answer…Old crap... THAT was a VERY wrong answer..."

The hermit stuck his tongue out at his blond student in a childish manner, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto nearly stomped his foot on the ground in frustration but just yelled "Shit! He ran away again! But just you wait, old toad! Just you wait!"

Naruto briefly wondered if he should chase after the old man. Usually, he would spend the night pestering after the hermit, or booby trapping his sake jar, but tonight he didn't felt like moping around. After all, it was not every day that he had the chance to meet someone from Konoha, and to be honest, he wanted to spend some time with Hinata. He really missed his village, and learning about the latest gossip from the Leaf would do him some good. He'd booby trap the sake jar another day.

He went to dress into one of the Inn's blue and white yukata and yelled to Hinata through the palisade. "Come on Hinata, we'll drink some tea and talk 'bout Konoha!"

"O… Okay Naruto-kun."

"Great! I'll wait for you! I'm in room 24! See ya!"

A few seconds later, Hinata trotted outside the female changing room, tugging at her yukata's sash before pulling on her gauntlet.

"A… Naruto-kun … your room?"

But Naruto had already left.

'_Well, I guess it's okay… I just hope he isn't sharing his room with… with…'_

The dark haired kunoichi couldn't repress a shiver.

That had been the most shocking thing in her life. Being assaulted and not being able to react. Hinata had thought she was going die of embarrassment.

And when a young man who had been the spitting image of the Fourth Hokage, down to the scowling and serious set of his jaw, had jumped in and ran toward her to smite her assaulter in righteous fury, Hinata had been sure she was turning crazy.

When she had been a child, there had been that weird story running around. According to it, if you were a good kid, and if you prayed hard enough, the Fourth Hokage's ghost would come to rescue you if you had problems. Villagers had loved Minato so much he'd became part of the Village's lore after his death.

But then the apparition had started yelling, and Hinata had realized that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, and that she actually knew that voice.

Everything in the young man's appearance was screaming 'Minato Namikaze'. Except for the whiskers on his face, and the shorter hair. Th was how she had recognized Naruto.

And,well, a nearly nude Naruto.

Judging by the burn she felt on her cheeks, and by the erratic beatings of her heart at the memory, it looked like her old crush on him was not so dead after all.

Hinata sighed.

'_I didn't need this…'_

.

.

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Takibana Inn, Room 24_

.

.

The room number 24 was … beautiful. It was decorated in the traditional Taki style, with tatami mats covering the floor and large sliding wooden doors opening out to the inn's garden. The decoration was simple and perfect. _'I really love that inn…' _Hinata mused.

Naruto and she had been talking for almost an hour now. About Konoha, friends, teachers and gossips. It was really enjoyable, to sit down and relax, for once…

Slowly, she turned her head toward Naruto, who was currently sitting on the wooden balcony, feet dangling, sipping his tea while commenting on Konoha's latest news. He had changed, Hinata realized. He was taller now. Really tall. Nearly a foot taller than herself. But he still was leaner than the hermit. His hair had not changed, though. Blond, spiky, seemingly having a life of its own. His eyes too were the same vivid blue, but… There was something strange about his eyes. Something almost feral, like the eyes of a wild beast. As a child, his round cheeks were keeping his blue eyes to two small slits. But now that he was adult, that his cheekbones had replaced the baby-fat, the eyes were the most impressive thing in Naruto's face. She wouldn't want to have to face one of his glares...

Naruto's cheerful voice shook her from her reverie. "I swear, I can't believe Lee convinced Sai to do that! This is so... unlike him! That's _priceless_... I wish I could've seen that!"

Hinata laughed softly and nodded her agreement. "So, Naruto-kun, what are you doing here, so far away from Konoha? Everyone misses you!" As soon as she'd asked the question, she regretted opening her mouth. Naruto's face had suddenly closed up. He sighed and twirled an empty cup of tea between his fingers.

"It's a bit… complicated. After what happened three years ago, Jiraiya was worried about me. He thought I was going to.… I don't know, maybe turn into something nasty or whatever…. He said stuff about not wanting history to repeat itself…. To him, it looks a bit taboo, so I never really pried, but I think he was afraid to see me turn into some kind of lone wolf, you know. Anyway, he insisted on having me as a student for five more years. He said he still had stuff to teach me. Which is a brazen lie, if you want my opinion. He just enjoys having someone to pester, that's all. But Tsunade-baachan kinda got pig-headed on it and…. well here I am… It's not as if I had something else interesting to do, since the old toad forbade me to be an Anbu."

"Really? But why? The Anbu institution is a prestigious one. All former Anbu are respected..."

Naruto shrugged, tilting his head slightly. "He says I'm not fit for assassination."

"I see…" Of course. She was stupid…. How could she not realize? Being an Anbu meant being an assassin. Naruto had so much empathy, killing people must be-

"He says I'm too loud. He says I can't kill someone without waking up the whole damn town."

Hinata coughed a bit on her tea. Naruto didn't seem to notice as he went on. "So instead, I'm doing missions with him. We're not a bad team at all, and since I'm his student, our styles are pretty much alike…it makes it easier for us, even though we are lacking some stuff. I must admit that I'm not really great at Genjutsu, so the old toad has to put up with me…. But when it comes to very important stuff, the old hag asks for us, because she knows we'll get the job done well! Haha, of course, I'm going to be Hokage one day, so of course I'm efficient!"

"That's great!" Hinata couldn't help but smile at Naruto's delight. It was good to see that some people never gave up on their childhood dreams.

Naruto's face became serious again.

"But…. Ya know, in a way, I'm glad I'm not an Anbu…. I really prefer going on missions with the old toad, at least, it's not always the same thing, Plus, I keep learning interesting stuff, and I get to know myself better. It's really nice ya know," Naruto smiled cheerfully, " Jiraiya may be a pervert, but he has his good sides too!" He paused to turn around and smile at her. "Anyway…it must be damn boring, to always do the same thing, don't you think? Isn't Neji bored?"

"Hmm, Neji-oniisan doesn't speak much about his missions," Hinata thought a bit before adding, " but I think… he may be looking forward to the end of his Anbu years… maybe…"

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, once I almost asked Sasuke how he felt about being an Anbu too, but I dropped it. It's mostly top-secret stuff too, so... Anyway, long story short, that's why I'm here with the old toad. Tsunade-baachan said she'd give me the jounin rank if I spent five more years training under Jiraiya. Technically, I'm still genin since I never had the chance to take the exams again. I've got two more years left, roughly. In two years, I'll be back in Konoha for good, and, well, I'll take things from there."

"I see." Hinata put down her teacup and straightened her yukata, smoothing out the soft clothing with the palm of her hand. She glanced at the rapidly darkening sky. It was not really late, but the darkness was already enveloping the garden.

"And you, Hinata, what's up? You've kept talking about everyone in the Leaf but yourself! Tell me, I want to know everything! "

Hinata squirmed a bit. Naruto, _the Naruto_, wanted to know things about her? "Hmm, well, nothing much…"

Naruto poured himself another cup of tea before slowly looking up and winking at her. "Ah, don't try to be shy with me…. You're going on Lone Missions, it means you're a jounin, right?"

"Yes."

"Woohoo!" yelled Naruto, flailing his arms wildly. The cup's contents flew into the garden. Naruto didn't seem to notice as he went on, "You made it, Hinata! I knew you had it in you! I knew you'd be a great kunoichi one day!"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata, still a bit shaken by his reaction.

"So….When did you take the jounin exam?"

"Last year…. Father insisted that I take it then. I thought I was not ready, but he said that all Hyuuga heirs had always been nominated jounin before their eighteenth year, so…"

"So?" asked Naruto, leaning toward her.

"So he said I'd better make it too."

"Hmm," grunted Naruto, leaning back, "I see."

"And," she blushed softly, "hmm, surprisingly enough, I made it…"

"That's great! And what about your dad?"

"Since I became a jounin, Father's being really… well, nice to me."

"That's good to hear!" said Naruto smiling. He poured himself another cup of tea and started drinking.

"Father is looking forward to finding me a suitable husband," Hinata went on, "so I can retire and give heirs to the main house. I think he wants grandchildren, actually. I guess he is tired of being head of the clan, and he wants to pass it on to somebody else."

Naruto coughed violently and spluttered his tea, spilling the cup's remaining contents on the wooden balcony. "Ha? What the heck, you're still young, Hinata!"

Hinata looked at the cup, empty again. It looked like Naruto had unresolved issues with tea.

She shook her head and explained, "Father thinks that shinobi's lives are short, and that we must have children when we can. Father says that a shinobi does not know when his or her life is going to end."

"Well, that's true I guess, but still…. How are you feeling about it?"

"I …" Hinata paused. She'd never really thought about it. She knew it was going to happen, sooner or later, that was all. She didn't even know who her husband was going to be. It was up to the elders to decide. Of course it was going to be someone from the Hyuuga clan, to keep the Byakugan in the family, but who? To be honest, she didn't really care.

Hinata had found a long time ago that, when it came down to family matters, not caring was easier. She had tried, really tried to understand the clan's policy. She had really tried to get interested. After all, she was the main house's heiress. But she came to no avail.

Lately, she had been talking more and more freely with her father. She knew that he was not the cold-hearted man everyone else thought him to be. He was just trying to do the best he could, with the power he had. But he was completely overpowered by the elders. They ruled the clan with an iron fist, and they were not ready to relinquish that power any time soon. So Hinata had not exactly given up, no. But she had stopped caring, for the time being.

'_It's like I don't really care. Like this is all happening to someone else.'_

"Are you happy, Hinata?"

Naruto's sudden question surprised her a bit. She had to think about it before answering tentatively, "I can't say I'm miserable, because I'm truly not. But… I feel like there's something missing."

"Hear, hear," nodded Naruto, rubbing his brow, "I feel the same way sometimes." He slumped on the tatami mat, and looked off into space.

"Really?" asked Hinata. She didn't like seeing Naruto so glum. She smiled encouragingly, "Well, I guess that's why I like lone missions. They give me some time to myself!"

Doubt crossed Naruto's features. "But if you get married and you have kids, you won't be able to go on lone missions anymore, right?"

"That's true… I guess that's why I'm not really happy. But I can't put this wedding off eternally without a good excuse. I'm not sure I'm ready to surrender to the elders… I wish I could have some more time for myself." Hinata blushed furiously. What was she saying? She was disclosing private information, stuff she wouldn't even admit to herself normally. But now words were tumbling out of her mouth, too fast for her to hold back.

Naruto sat up abruptly and pointed a finger at her, saying with a serious face: "You need to do something drastic, Hinata!"

"What do you mean, drastic?"

"You need …" Naruto's fake seriousness dissolved into a smile as he gave her a victory sign, "to take a holiday!"

Hinata let out a small laugh. Naruto had always had a knack for presenting things in the most dramatic way. She slowly nodded.

"I'm doing that right now, Naruto-kun. I took two days off to stop here."

Naruto pulled a dejected face and went back to lying on the floor.

"Two days? That's nowhere near drastic enough! That's more like meek-holiday..." That said, he winked at Hinata who broke into another fit of laughter. After musing for a while, Naruto propped himself on one elbow, and asked:

"What about two years instead?"

That had cut Hinata's laughter short. "What?"

"I still have two years of training left with the old toad," explained Naruto. "Do you want to join? That way you could have some time for yourself! You'll see, the old toad isn't that invasive. And we could do with someone like you on our team! You're really good at taijutsu, if I remember correctly. You look like the stealthy kind too. And well, let's be honest, the byakugan could help." Naruto added sheepishly.

"Well,…"

"Come on, say yes!" Naruto sat up and grabbed her hands, shaking them enthusiastically. "It could be so fun! I get tired of the old perv', it'd be so much fun to have someone else to talk to!"

"I…"

"Yes, I know, we need ask Tsunade-baachan about it first. I don't think she'll be difficult about it, but we never know!"

Before Hinata could stop him, Naruto bit his thumb to draw blood, then executed a few seals, saying, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

With a faint "pop" and a puff of smoke, a small toad appeared in front of them. " Hm, food? Ah, no, duty calls again…What can I do for you, Boss?"

"Gamatatsu, get me Tsunade."

"Roger Boss!" The toad disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"Naruto-kun, what are you-"

The blond shinobi held his finger up to his mouth, and winked. "Hang on a minute Hinata."

At that moment, the toad returned in another puff of smoke. "Tsunade-sama says she's busy right now, she told me to tell you to contact her later."

"No, this can't wait. Tell her I ask for another member in mine and Jiraiya's team."

"Ok, Boss."

With a 'plop', Gamatatsu disappeared again.

Hinata stayed still, looking at Naruto. What was he doing? Obviously the toad was going back and forth between here and the Hokage's office in Konoha. But…. This must require quite a lot of chakra control and…

Her frown softened into a smile. Naruto had really grown into a fine ninja…

Puff!

"Boss, Tsunade-sama said no. She says you two are already too much of a hassle to control."

"Ok. If she doesn't want to play soft, then I ain't going to play soft. Tell her I'm not requesting her approval: I'm simply letting her know. Tell her that she's not the only one who can be a pain in the ass, I can too."

Plop!

'_Naruto-kun…'_

Puff!

"Tsunade-sama wishes to know who you want to include to your team. She added that you always are a pain, nothing new, and that she's definitely going to 'kick your ass til you bow in front of her' for bugging her like this." The toad paused. "She ain't really in a good mood now, ya know, Boss. Ya should leave it alone if you don't wanna be skinned alive the next time ya go back to Konoha."

"Oh, enough with that yapping. Tell her to go get milked, will you?"

Plop!

Puff!

"BOSS! She's really angry now! Boss, I don't want to go back, she'll kill me!"

"You're going back. You tell her the new member is Hyuuga Hinata," said Naruto, pointing at Hinata, "jounin kunoichi from Konoha."

The toad glanced at Hinata before sighing and disappearing again.

Hinata could only stare blankly. "Naruto-kun, what are you-"

"Just a bit, Hinata."

This time a couple of minutes went by. Naruto's eyes were closed in concentration. Hinata couldn't help but wonder. Was he really serious? Did he want her to join his team? But… what for? Was it some kind of joke?

Puff!

"Tsunade-sama wishes to know why. She says that Hyuuga Hinata is an excellent element for Lone Missions. She wishes to know if it is Hyuuga Hinata's doing or yours."

Naruto huffed impatiently. "Tell her it's entirely my idea, that I just came up with it and that Hinata has not agreed yet. And that I'm doing this because…" He hesitated, looking down at his hands. He suddenly balled them into fists, knuckles whitening. His jaw set and his eyes dark, he went on, "Because. Tell that old cow that she owes me one anyway. And I'm only asking for two years."

Plop!

Hinata was having trouble thinking straight. Was he crazy? First, the Hokage would never agree. Second, Hinata was utterly lame when it came to teamwork. Third, her father was never going to accept. Fourth, what use could she…

Puff!

"Tsunade-sama agrees for one year only."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Uh-uh, nope. Two years or nothing, and trust me, she won't like the 'nothing' part : either Hinata comes with us, or I go back to Konoha right now with the old toad in tow and I swear, I'll do my best to turn her life into hell.."

Plop!

Naruto smiled at Hinata and winked. "That's a big gamble. But this should work."

Hinata stayed silent, thinking over his previous speech. Two years…?

Puff!

"Tsunade-sama says that Hyuuga Hiashi is not going to be a happy bunny. He is planning a wedding for his daughter next month."

Naruto's lips twisted into a sneer at this.

"Then she'll have to tell him to put a sock in it."

Plop!

'_Next month…? So soon?'_ Suddenly Hinata felt herself hoping … Hoping that Tsunade would accept Naruto's absurd request. She… she didn't want to get married yet. She liked being… by herself.

Puff!

This time the toad appeared in front of Hinata. "Hyuuga Hinata-sama, the Leaf's Hokage wishes to know your thoughts about this. Are you ready to be incorporated into Uzumaki Naruto's and the Hermit Jiraiya's team?"

"I…" Hinata glanced at Naruto. He was looking intently at her.

"Hinata, it's up to you now. You said you wanted some more time to yourself, right?" He shook his head and mouthed, "It's up to you..." before giving her the thumbs up and turning around to look outside the window, seemingly giving her some privacy.

Hinata was stuck, she had no clue as to what to do.

_'Father is not going to be pleased with me for this… but … I'm not ready to... I'd just like to try to… to get to know myself better. I'm not ready to give up on that yet…'_ Her decision suddenly clear in her mind, she turned toward the toad and bowed slightly. Her eyes facing the ground, she tried to steady her voice long enough to answer: "I am ready."

It came out a bit shaky, but at least she hadn't stuttered.

"This means that you might not be back in Konoha for two years. Are you sure you want to?", asked the toad.

"I…" Hinata bit her lip before answering in a more assured voice, "I want to."

"Fine then."

Plop!

Naruto turned back toward her and gave Hinata the largest smile she'd ever seen. "Way to go, Hinata!"

Puff!

"Boss, Tsunade-sama says she's going to kill you for putting her in this mess. Worse, she's going to be sure you're going to die under a pile of utterly annoying paperwork if you ever live long enough to be nominated Hokage. But she validated your request. She's going to send Hyuuga Hinata's new assignment papers tomorrow."

Hinata felt relief wash over her. She'd done it. She'd decided to take her destiny back into her own hands, even if it was only for two years.

"Woohoo!" Naruto's sudden jump scared her half to death. He grabbed the small toad and started shaking it enthusiastically, much to its dismay.

"Great job Gamatatsu, as usual! Go back home now, and say hello to everyone for me!"

The toad perked up at that, "Roger, Boss! See you, Miss Hinata!" and disappeared with a final plop.

"I hope… " Hinata said hesitantly, "I hope I didn't cause Tsunade-sama too many problems…"

"Don't worry about that Hinata, she'll take it out on me, she always does. You don't have to worry at all.

"Still…"

"Don't make yourself sick over it. It's fine, really!" Naruto reached for his cup, and, realizing it was empty, he winked at her.

"Hey, Hinata, why don't we stop that 'thinking too much' thing and start having fun?"

"Heh?"

"I want to hear more from you," that had Hinata blushing , "and from Konoha! From everyone! Sasuke never writes about fun stuff in his letters, it's always about missions and jutsu... Let's talk all night, have some fun!"

Hinata felt her lips stretch in an involuntarily smile at Naruto's transparent love for his village. "Alright then, Naruto-kun."

Naruto ran toward the door and opened it hastily, "Mina-neechan!"

A distant reply came from the hall: "What do you want again?"

"Bring us something to drink! Something good! First class Umeshuu! And put it on Jiraiya's tab!"

He closed the door and bounced back in, smiling with all his teeth out and giving her the thumbs up. "We can't talk without some drinks, and I've never cared much for tea."

Hinata had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. Naruto went on, completely oblivious. "From now on, Hyuuga Hinata's Drastic Holiday begins! Let's celebrate!"

Hinata whimpered_. _

'_Oh my… What have I gotten myself into?'_

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Jiraiya was sitting cross-legged in his room, his back resting on the wooden wall. The cup of tea he'd poured himself nearly half an hour before was now cold.

But Jiraiya didn't care. He was deeply engrossed in the inspection of a thin paper square. The light-blue material was a diagnosing sheet of his own device. A few seconds' application on the skin was enough to get a passably good blueprint of the chakra pathways.

One of Jiraiya's main rules was to immediately check out the other customers when he stopped somewhere. He liked to know who was staying under the same roof as he did, and there was no such thing as 'too much information'. So when he'd heard from Minawa that a young woman had arrived, he'd naturally decided to look her up. The fact that she had happened to be nude in the hot springs had merely been a bonus point. Sure, the girl was lovely to look at. All girls were, in Jiraiya's opinion. But there was something else. Something really disturbing.

The chakra flow in the girl's left arm was horribly bunched up. It seemed to be clustered around the wrist and the elbow, as if it could not move freely around these articulations. The pathways were badly disrupted in between. As he watched, the accumulated chakra started flowing freely again, ever so slowly. The more the girl relaxed, the better the chakra flow.

He'd applied the diagnosing sheet to the girl's left arm, while she had been too shocked by the breast fondling bit to pay attention. Silly as it was, it worked all the time. However skilled a shinobi, if you drew their attention to something shocking enough, you could get away with almost anything. Naruto's timely apparition had been perfect. He'd had half a second to take the sheet away and the girl hadn't noticed a thing, too absorbed by Naruto's entry. But Jiraiya had underestimated the boy's speed, and had been too slow to dodge the punch, which had stung. A lot.

Anyway, back to that arm. According to the blueprint, the chakra pathways were a total mess. Two rough-looking seals were embeded into her wrist and elbow, completely cutting off the chakra flow. Bridging over these, small artificial chakra ducts were allowing the chakra to resume its flowing, trying to re-establish the connection. But they couldn't handle the outflow most of the time. Thus creating the congested area between her wrist and elbow.

That medical jutsu was Tsunade's, Jiraiya'd bet his left nut on it. That was top medic stuff.

The two primitive seals underneath were bad news. He marvelled at the fact that the girl seemed to be able to use her arm freely at all. Jiraiya had never seen something quite like that. Well, actually, he thought with a wince, he had. Forty years ago, on someone's leg. The seals had messed with the chakra so badly that it had almost immediately burst out of the pathways, driven through muscles and tissues, and literally torn the leg open. Blood had splattered on the walls, black chakra had came pouring out of the mangled tenketsu in great waves.

Jiraiya had nightmares for a week after that.

If these seals were what he thought, he had some pressing questions to ask his old friend, the 5th Hokage. But the pathways were so messed up he had to try to figure out their original pattern first. Grabbing a large sheet of paper and an ink brush, Jiraiya set to work.

One hour later, his cup was still untouched, and many crumpled sheets of paper were littering the floor.

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**End of:**

Drastic Holiday, Chapter One: Drastic Beginning.

.o0O0o.

TBC in:

**'Drastic Holiday, Chapter Two: Drastic Hangover'** (a.k.a. _Payback is a bitch_!)

Where :  
-Much alcohol is drunk,  
-Jiraiya muses over fate and students,  
-Tsunade gets her revenge in a dirty way,  
-Hinata and Naruto get hot and sweaty a lot (kind of).

._. melikes reviews *nom nom nom*

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_Note : "neechan" means "older sister", but can perfectly be used outside of the family, to adress any young woman. It's quite familiar, tho ^^_


	3. 02 Drastic Changes

_Chapter 2:_ Where chara-introspection roams, alcohol flows, shrubbery talks, and Naruto is too sexy for his _yukata_.  
12 315 words? I swear, these mofos are getting heavier and heavier.

_A/N_ : Many thanks to all who reviewed.

_Disclaimer:_ Jiraiya alive and kicking? Come on guys, this is obviously fanon.

Writing is easy, writing in _correct English_ is not. Many thanks to **Ken**.

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.o0O0o.

**Drastic Holiday**

**Chapter Two : Drastic Changes**

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_Takibana Inn, Room 24._

.o0O0o.

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Hinata was drunk, and she was well aware of it. Not utterly wasted or stinking drunk, no, nothing like that. Nooo.

She was just a little tipsy, fuzzy around the edges. Well, maybe really fuzzy. Still, she knew that if she put all her mind to it, she could still make up sentences that would make her sound sober. Okay, almost sober.

Not that she needed to talk much, anyway.

Naruto was doing a very good job of monopolizing the conversation, and she was grateful for it. The young man did not seem to be affected at all by the alcohol, even though he had six bottles of plum liquor, all by himself. Make it seven with the one that had rolled under the table. Hinata wondered briefly if he had a secret jutsu, something that transformed alcohol into water.

She was perfectly content to just sit there, listening to the exuberant boy, catching every so often words like "old pervert" and "Hokage". Being there, having fun, spending some quality time with an interesting person, away from her dull everyday-life… it was paradise.

No.

It wasn't.

It was almost paradise, but something was off, definitely… If only she could put her finger on what. It was not the food, nor the drinks, she was not too cold or too hot. Nonetheless, something was bothering her. Deeply. She was growing restless by the minute. Why couldn't she simply enjoy being here? What was amiss?

_Hinata, could you please stop squirming like a kid? Focus. Focus on something. Naruto-kun, for example. He invited you to share his drinks, he is talking to you, nicely taking interest, and you're acting like a spoiled child! What's wrong with you? Can't you just enjoy the moment? Focus on something. Look at his hands for example, it'll keep you busy._

Hinata had always loved hands. Her father had the longest fingers she had ever seen, and seeing him manipulate an object was always mesmerizing. Hinata didn't have many memories of her mother, but she remembered liking her hands very much. They had been soft and cooling, always soothing the pain away. Looking at someone's hands always had a calming effect on Hinata.

_Naruto-kun has really nice hands. They are large! The _sake_ cup looks so small and frail in comparison! I'm sure he could break the bottle without applying much pressure. Such agility! His fingers are fluttering around as he speaks. His fingers are long too, just like Father's_._ I just love his skin's colour. It's not plain white like us Hyuuga, it's tanned. This is the skin of someone who spends a lot of time outside. I wonder what they feel like_._ Are they as warm as they look? Are the palms soft or callous? I'd like to touch him… _

Hinata almost choked on the drink when she realized her train of thoughts. _Oh my, what am I thinking?_ She ducked her head down, faking interest in the plum liquor bottle, trying to conceal her reddening cheeks.

But indeed, she wished she could reach out for Naruto's hands and, somehow, connect with him.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. The thing amiss, the origin of her squirming and her uneasiness, she had found it. She felt _lonely_.

What a childish thing indeed, she thought. Since her mother's death, no one had held her hand. And now, she was desperate for couldn't handle it anymore; she had to reach out and touch someone. All that loneliness, she couldn't … she just couldn't stand it anymore, she was going to…

_Snap out of it, Hinata! What's with that behaviour? It must be the alcohol! You're not going to make a fool of yourself in front of Naruto-kun! Get out of here, now! Go for a walk outside! You need to cool down. _

" Naruto-kun," she started tentatively, but Naruto threw his hands in the air suddenly, interrupting her.

"Aww, Hinata, can't we stop with all that formal stuff? I mean, you can call me Naruto!"

"Naruto…" said Hinata tentatively.

"Way better Hinata-chan!"

Hinata blushed at the sudden familiarity. So, '-chan'? Where did that come from? Maybe the alcohol was having an effect, after all. Naruto went on, "Here, look, your cup is already empty! Not good at all!"

Hinata opened her mouth to protest, but Naruto had already filled her cup with plum liquor. Up to the brim.

He cheerfully waved the bottle up in the air and winked at her, "Alright, Hinata-chan, bottoms up!"

"What?" asked Hinata in a strangled voice. Naruto's grin widened. "No, not that way! It means, drink your cup in one gulp. "

"Oh." Hinata was about to tell him that she would rather drink it slowly, when she suddenly felt a presence behind her.

"Naruto, stupid kid, how many times did I tell you that it's bad manners to try to drink a lady under the table?"

Hinata almost spilled her drink in surprise. The toad hermit was standing on the balcony. _When did he get here? I didn't even hear him approach! _

Hinata had not recoiled at the Hermit's sight, and that was strange. Three hours ago, the mere mention of his name would have sent her in a blushing frenzy, and she would definitely have felt ill-at-ease with him in the same room. But now she felt strangely detached about it, as if the pervert in the bathing area and Naruto's teacher were two different persons. She wondered if this was the alcohol speaking.

"Drink her under the table…?" spluttered Naruto indigantly. "Old toad! You know I'm not like that!" yelled Naruto, with such a chagrined look that Hinata couldn't help but smile. "I mean," he went on, "if she wants to stop, she just has to say so!"

"The thing is, my dear disciple, you must actually listen to your guest, not just drown her with idle chit-chat. Am I wrong, miss Hyuuga?" asked the hermit, giving her a knowing look and smirking all the way. Hinata had a sneaking suspicion that the hermit attitude was just a game, and that the game's goal was to annoy the heck out of his pupil.

Naruto disgruntled look seemed to confirm that theory.

" I actually like to listen to people, Jiraiya-sama," said Hinata softly.

The old man smiled down at her and gave her a look that seemed to say _'You really do, don't you?'. _

"See, old toad? I'm not bothering her at all!"

"Brat, don't get me started on the subject of you bothering people."

"Well, at least I'm not afraid of an old innkeeper, _me_."

That seemingly struck a chord, since the hermit paused in mid movement, his mouth hanging open. Then he began to speak in a slow voice, as if trying to explain something complicated to a five years old kid "Listen boy, sometimes a man, be he extraordinary dashing and skilled, cannot-"

"If you're here to talk about yourself at the third person, go away," Naruto paused before adding in a peeved tone, "you and your over-inflated ego."

"My, I think me and my overinflated ego are going to have a drink before leaving."

Jiraiya plopped down beside Naruto while the blond boy poured him a cup of liquor.

"Seesh, what do you think I'm going to do with such a small cup? Why are you the only one to have such an oversized cup? Give it to me, will you? There, you're a nice boy." Seeing the old man pat Naruto on the head was slightly disturbing, Hinata decided. Especially with Naruto baring his teeth like that. But the hermit didn't seem to notice, and he smacked his lips appreciatively after tasting the _umeshuu_.

"Aah... I see you're drinking good stuff, my pupil. At least I was able to teach you a few things!"

"Yes, old lecher! First class _umeshuu_! The reaaally expensive one…" Naruto's smile was a bit too bright, and his eyes were a little too malicious. But the old man did not seem to notice. He seemed oblivious to the world, sipping the liquor with a content look.

"Ah, _umeshuu_... that's a good drink! Do you like _umeshuu_, Miss Hyuuga? It's sugary and fruity, it generally pleases the ladies' delicate palate. Or sweet tooth, should I say."

"Now, who is drowning who with 'idle chit-chat'? Feeling the urge to rant, much?" Naruto feigned coldness, but Hinata was aware of the small smile tugging at the young man's lips. He was enjoying this, too.

Hinata put a hand in front of her mouth, to hide a smile. Did these two ever stop bickering?

"Shut up brat, and give some _umeshuu_. Don't you see that my cup is empty? Your table manners are awful, my boy. What are we celebrating by the way?"

"That Hinata is now part of our team!"

"Oh, nice, nice." Jiraiya drank a mouthful of _umeshuu_ before blinking and turning around to face Naruto, "Wait."

"Yeah?"

"What did you just say?"

"Are you deaf, now?" asked Naruto, arching one eyebrow. "I said, we're celebrating that _Hinata is now part of our team_."

"Ah, good, I was afraid I misheard you. Just to be sure, who decided so?" said Jiraiya, his voice sweet and coaxing.

"I did, of course!"

_Uh oh,_ thought Hinata.

"Don't you think you're forgetting someone, in the process?" asked the white haired man, in an even sweeter voice.

"Oh, no, don't worry!" Naruto went on, with his usual carefree smile, "Tsunade-baa-chan agreed already."

Jiraiya finally dropped the act and grabbed his pupil by the collar to shake him thoroughly. "No, Naruto, you stupid oaf. I was talking about me."

Naruto poured himself a cup of umeshuu, before turning back toward the old man, his good natured face radiating innocence. "Oh, as if. Do you mind? You don't, do you? Aw, Come on, old leech. It won't be that bad. Hinata-chan is way better than me: she'll actually _listen_ to you. Right, Hinata-chan?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun!"

"See? She's the perfect student."

"That's not the point! I have no doubt that Miss Hyuuga must truly be a treasure, but don't you think you should have asked _me_ before deciding, hmm?"

"Listen, if you keep on being difficult, I will..."

A that moment, the door rolled open, and a very dishevelled old woman stepped in Naruto's room.

Hinata noted appreciatively that the hermit only needed a quarter of second to spring to his feet, dash across the room and hide behind a wooden panel.

"Naru-chan, have you seen your _Master_? I could swear I just heard his voice!" asked the woman, eyes ablaze.

"Oh yes Okami-san." Behind the wooden panel, Jiraiya started making strangling motions with his hands. He glared at the blond shinobi, with eyes full of disbelief. But Naruto went on, cheerful as ever: "Jiraiya said he was going for a walk in the forest. He wanted to admire Takibashi by night. You'll find him there without a doubt."

" Oh. Really now? Thank you SO much, my dearest sweetheart," trilled the old woman.

"My pleasure, Okami-san."

The door rolled back, and they heard hurried footsteps rush down the hallway.

Jiraiya cautiously stepped from behind the wooden panel. "You know, brat, you almost had me afraid for a second."

At this, Naruto smiled the most wicked smile Hinata had ever seen, and ran off to the door before slamming it open and bellowing : "Okami-san! Jiraiya confessed earlier that he likes you very much! Maybe you should wear something a little more revealing for him! You know how he likes daring women!"

The old man silently shook his fist at his student, grunting through gritted teeth "You will die a painful death, brat," before grabbing a couple of _umeshuu_ bottles and stepping from the balcony into the garden, where the darkness swiftly swallowed him.

Naruto closed the door swiftly, snickering. "That'll teach him."

"Naruto-kun, that was not a really nice thing to do."

Naruto looked at her with genuine disbelief. "Hinata-chan, are you alright in the head? I mean, he groped you! He deserves it! And well, do you really think that a high-rank shinobi like him is going to have problems hiding from her? He just likes being hunted by that old bat!"

Hinata couldn't help but envy the relationship between the two shinobi. This was really different from the relation she had with her former teacher. Of course Kurenai-sensei had been a perfect teacher, but she was not very exuberant, to say the least. Naruto and Jiraiya's relation was more akin to very close friends than to a pupil/teacher's one. Like family, almost. Being Naruto's friend must be quite something. For a second, she felt jealous of the hermit. Sure, she knew Naruto from the Academy, but that was not enough to be deemed someone's _friend_. Friends were people who deeply understood each-other. People like Naruto and his teacher, or her and her teammates.

"Naruto-kun, I-"

"Hinata-chan! For the last time, please, call me Naruto! We're friends, aren't we?"

_Friends, huh... _Hinata mulled over her previous decision to go for a walk. That 'friend' thing was terribly tempting, all of a sudden.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"May I have another cup of _umeshuu_?"

"That's the spirit, girl! Bottoms' up!"

Hinata paused for a second before tilting her head to the side and smiling at Naruto. "Bottoms up, then!"

As she swallowed the sweet drink, Hinata could not repress a smile, as warmth spread inside of her.

_Friends!_

_._

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Takitsubo Forest_

.o0O0o.

* * *

Crossing the garden at high speed, Jiraiya took off in the dark forest surrounding the inn. After a while, he reached a clearing bathed in moonlight. He checked his surroundings and sat swiftly on a large rock. He needed to talk with his old team-mate. The impromptu meeting, the validation of the brat's request… That whole mess reeked of Tsunade. He hadn't had time to contact her yet about the girl's arm, so he would kill two birds with one stone and confront her now.

He reached into his shirt's inner pocket and brought out a small ebony scroll. He opened it, and wrote down a couple of sentences. Then he executed a long stream of hands seals, before slamming both his hands down on the scroll, whispering "Hourousanbun no jutsu!" (_Technique of the wandering prose_). He silently watched the words fade away.

.

Far away from there, in Konoha, the Godaime Hokage felt a low pulsation of chakra near her left hip. Growling, she reached down her belt pocket and grabbed a scroll identical to the one Jiraiya had, before opening it and reaching out for a brush.

.

Back in the Waterfall Country, Jiraiya was waiting in front of his now blank scroll. Damn, that jutsu had sure been a pain in the neck to master, but it was quite useful. He could not thank his late teacher enough for pounding it into his thick skull. He smirked when words began to appear on the scroll, slowly at first. Eventually he was able to decipher sentences, recognizing Tsunade's familiar handwriting.

~ My, my, my, why am I not even surprised? First the student, and then the teacher. And I thought that I could actually have some free time to have some fun with the paperwork. But nooo… So, what's bugging you? Spill it Toady, I'm waiting. ~

Jiraiya chuckled at the old nickname. He waited a few seconds for Tsunade's words to fade, before writing his answer and sending it.

~ Tsunade-hime, dearest, your harsh words are crushing my heart. ~

Soon enough, the answer came.

~ Jiraiya, spill it. I'm a busy woman, you know. ~

~ Why did you accept Naruto's request? Without consulting me first? ~

~ Maybe I was just feeling like being nice with him. ~

~ Tsunade, I know you. You'd rather deactivate your youth seal than give in to Naruto. And that whole mess reeks of you. Tell me the true reason. ~

~ I guess that you noticed her arm, right? ~

~ You want _me_ to work on it? ~

~ Yes. If you get something out of it, it could be useful. It could help her too ~

~ And what makes you think, my dear Tsunade-hime, that I'm going to accept? ~

~ Because you're a very curious old man. ~

~ Why don't you study it yourself? ~

~ You're the one who likes toying with fucked-up seals, Jiraiya. I'm a busy woman. And I trust you with her, Naruto is going to kill you if you do something wrong. She's one of the Konoha 12, as they call themselves. Naruto is very protective of all of them. ~

~ I see that despite all your pestering, you still have some faith left in him. ~

~ That brat is really annoying. You know what he did? Through that toad messenger of his (why on earth did you teach him that? Now I can't even hide from him, he's always pestering me, damn it), he told me to get milked. ~

~ Well, nothing new. ~

~ I was in a meeting with the Mizukage. ~

~ Oh. ~

~ Yeah, 'Oh'. We were debating over the new double defence pact, when suddenly that stupid toad plopped down on my desk and croaked out "Boss says you should go get milked." ~

~ Hm. ~

~ You know her. She almost killed the toad. ~

~ I guess I'd better not bring the brat near Konoha or Kirigakure anytime soon? ~

~ Your guess is quite accurate. ~

~ Oh, Tsunade, come on, he is not _that_ bad.~

~ 'Not that bad'? He's making my life a nightmare. Now I've got a hysterical Hyuuga Hiashi to cope with, too. This is just _dandy_. ~

~ How is he taking the news? ~

~ What do _you_ think? You should hear him, he tried everything. From "the Hyuuga heiress, in that team for two years? _Preposterous_! ", to "She is supposed to get married! Bring her back!", without forgetting threats like: "If you don't counter that order now, I'll do something, something… something drastic!" ~

~ Father-Attitude is finally coming out to bite him in the bum? ~

~ You could say that. ~

~ You know what? I'm sure you're secretly thrilled, because I now have two bratty pupils instead of one. ~

~ Maybe. You know I love to see you squirm. ~

~ Tsunade, I'm too old for that crap. ~

~ Don't tell me… ~

~ You know how Naruto is. He's already getting his new 'teammate' stinking drunk to 'celebrate'; and he's putting the tab on me, thinking I won't notice. ~

~ Keep an eye on them, will you? ~

~ What, are you afraid he'll puke on her? ~

~ No, but seeing how hysterical is Hyuuga now, I wouldn't want to have to announce him that his _precious_ daughter's got her _precious_ virginity taken away by what he still sees as Kyuubi's spawn. ~

~ Tsunade! Your crude language and your lack of trust wound me. Deeply. ~

~ Don't make me laugh, Jiraiya. ~

~ Still, Naruto is my student. You should trust him. ~

~ More the reason to not trust him, if you get my point". No, now that I think about it, it's not that I don't trust him. It's that I don't trust _them_ together. ~

~ They're young. Not stupid. ~

~ A girl who lived tied down by rules until now, and a boy whose motto is to disrespect every rule he can? Trust me, I don't want to be here the day those two really notice each other's. Sparks are going to fly. ~

~ Tsunade, since when are you so well versed in young passion? Want to help me for the next Icha-Icha volume? I could use a woman's point of view, you know. ~

~ Ok, you win. I give up. I'm going back to that dratted paperwork. But keep an eye on those two. ~

~ Yes, yes, I'll contact you later. Don't drool too much when falling asleep on your paperwork. ~

He did not write more, but he knew that Tsunade would get the true meaning of his words. _'Take care, and don't strain yourself too much.'_

~ May you be squished under a toad's butt again. And stop pestering me so much. ~

'_Thanks. Take care too, and try to stop by someday, I kind of miss you…'_

After releasing the jutsu and putting the scroll back in his pocket, the white haired hermit began to walk back to the inn, gazing up at the stars. Keep an eye on them? Maybe. At least, not tonight. Tonight the lovely Takiko would be waiting for him in her nice green kimono, and Aiko might join them too, so…tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow.

And an old man grinning like a boy kept on walking through the forest.

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Takibana inn, Room 24_

.o0O0o.

* * *

Hinata was now happily in the Oblivious Stage, there was not much doubt left. On a second thought, Naruto too. She had been trying to teach him a very basic game, but he had problems remembering the rules.

"No, no nooo, Naruto-kun, you don't get this at all. There are four moves, not three. First, you clap your hands down on your lap, and then you clap your hands together, that's the second move. The third and the fourth moves are the thumbs ones; right, then left. Then it starts all over again. And you have to say the words, at the right rhythm, before going on with the name and number parts. You see?"

Naruto squinted his eyes shut, before shaking his head. "Nope… Don't see nuffin'! Gimme another bottle Hina-chan, it'll help me think clearly. Yup, surely will. "

Hinata obliged, and grinned. She had not known that drinking could be so fun!

The heat in the room was stifling. Somewhere along the way, Naruto had dropped the upper part of his _yukata_, baring his torso. Hinata wished she could do the same thing. The night air must feel delicious on bare skin. But since she didn't have the time to change, she had nothing under her _yukata_. _Tsch, men. They're always the ones having fun, what with being able to go around half-naked. _Hinata stole a glance at Naruto's bared chest. Well, she had nothing against fun with benefits, she reflected as she gazed at Naruto's face.

Naruto caught her eyes and sipped some _umeshuu_ before speaking up. "Hina-chan, I know a better game, actually." Something flickered briefly in his eyes and he added, "way better."

"Better than that? I don't believe you!"

Suddenly Naruto eyes were burning with a new emotion. "Oh, yes, trust me. It's the best game ever.. Wanna play with me, Hina-chan?" asked Naruto, his eyes full of promises.

"But I don't know how to play," said Hinata, twisting nervously the hem of her _yukata_.

Naruto licked his lips and grinned at her. "Don't worry, I'm a good teacher."

Hinata felt a shiver of excitation run down her spine. She was stepping into unknown territory here. But the gleam in Naruto's eyes was strangely attractive, and she decided she liked his grin very much.

"Okay! Just let me drink another cup before!"

"No problem at all. Drink all you want, Hina-chan." A large smile was stretching his lips, making him look almost predatory. But she was not afraid at all. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, maybe because it was Naruto, but tonight she wanted to let go of everything and have fun. She wanted to go all the way. No more barriers, no more rules, just her, and Naruto.

And the _umeshuu_. Never forget the _umeshuu_.

Naruto extended his hand toward her shoulder, before giving her a small squeeze and an encouraging nod. He cocked his head to the side, and smiled at the young woman. "Trust me, I'm sure you're going to like it."

Neither of them heard the steps in the corridor. They never noticed someone stopping by the door, listening intently before walking softly away.

* * *

.0O0o.

_Takibana inn, Room 8_

.o0O0o.

* * *

Jiraiya was just beginning to enjoy the evening with a good bottle of _umeshuu_, and Takiko's nice décolleté, when his door rolled open again. He was slightly surprised to see only Aiko-chan's small face. He'd sent her to fetch Naruto.

"Back alone, Aiko-chan? What, is my disciple so drunk that he already fell asleep?"

Aiko's delicate face brightened with a smile. She sat beside him and put her hand on his. "Really, Jiraiya-sama, you played a very nasty trick on me… Is it that enjoyable to embarrass me?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jiraiya, surprised.

"You could have told me that Naruto-sama was with Beniko-sama. You know her, right?"

Jiraiya blinked. Beniko? Surely that was the Hyuuga brat's false name. Better play along. "Ah, yes, Beniko-chan, of course."

Wait. He had left them two hours ago. Were they still drinking? He had sent Aiko because he had been pretty sure that the Hyuuga kid would have been back in her room. Something was wrong. The hermit slowly put his cup down and stared at the young girl. He slowly asked, "Tell me, sweetheart, were they still drinking?"

"Jiraiya-sama, it looks like the drinking part was long forgotten, trust me. But don't worry, I told Minawa to not interrupt them."

Jiraiya could feel cold beads of sweat trickling down his back. Okay. Now this officially sounded wrong. "Takiko, Aiko, I need to go to the lavatory, very quickly. I'll be right back my dears, wait for me."

Jiraiya walked to the door slowly, trying to placate his rising anxiety. Behind him, he heard the two girls laugh, which only added to his panic.

He fled down the corridor leading to Naruto's room. How could he have been so _STUPID_! A man and a woman, together, alcohol flowing. It was bound to happen! But then again, he had never thought that Naruto would be _that_ stupid. Darn, Tsunade was going to _KILL_ him! If Naruto had decided to have some fun with the Hyuuga girl, he'd better take the brat on a looong trip, and never ever come back to Konoha. Ever.

Reaching Naruto's room, he rolled the sliding door open violently, and stood still, for he was facing one of the most unsettling sights ever.

They were not rolling around naked, swallowing each other's face, or worse, no. They were just sitting cross-legged, facing each other, their hands battling in rhythm as they sung a rhyme. True, Naruto's _yukata_ was not covering his torso anymore, and Hinata's clothes seemed a bit rumpled, but it seemed to be the result of the alcohol intoxication rather than of sex-related activities. It was strangely disturbing to see Naruto play children games like that. He looked genuinely happy, and a good ten years younger. His eyes were bright with sheer happiness.

Jiraiya had never seen the brat having so much... fun?

Naruto's head turned toward Jiraiya, and the hermit was faced with one of the hugest smile he had ever seen.

"Ah! Ero sennin! You're coming to play with us too? Come on! I taught Hina-chan Yu's drinking game! Because she tried to teach me a game waaay to complex."

"And so you taught her the game you learned in the Snow Country? The one you like so much you annoyed the heck out of everyone with it?"

"She's doing really well! Well, she had a bit of trouble in the beginning, but she quickly mastered it! Right, Hina-chan?"

"Hm?" the Hyuuga's hands were slowly battling the air, apparently trying to go on with the game, even though Naruto had stopped a while ago, needing to focus on the talk with the hermit.

The white haired man shook himself out his lethargy. "Hm. I see. Naruto?

"Yeah?" the young man was beaming again.

"She's wasted," said Jiraiya, pointing at the young kunoichi.

"Noooh. Never. Right, Hina-chan?"

The young girl finally stopped her hands motions, and looked at Naruto for a couple of seconds, visibly trying to decipher the meaning of the sentence, before smiling proudly and nodding her assent. "Aa! "

"See? She's doing good!" the young man was _still_ beaming.

Naruto smiling was one thing. But the constant beaming was beginning to set the hermit off. "Hmm. Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"You _are_ wasted."

"Nuuuh. Not my style." This said, the blond man tried to get up but lost his balance and landed flat on his back. He began to shake with laughter. "Ero-sennin, I'm not wasted, but the room's sure shaking a bit too much for me to stand!"

"I can't believe it, you're pissed as a newt! Naruto, stupid boy, how much did you drink tonight?"

Naruto jerked his thumb toward the balcony, pointing at the dozens of empty bottles, and proudly claimed "That much!", before trying to sit up again.

Jiraiya slowly passed his hand on his eyes, trying to not lose his temper.

"Naruto. You are utterly sloshed."

The young man frowned. "Nope, I can't. Remember?" he asked, patting his stomach, "he's helping me!" this said he beamed at his teacher again.

"Well, Naruto. I guess that we just discovered that even an immortal demon fox with nine tails _can_ get plastered."

"Ya sure?"

"Hmm, looking at your current state, I'd say 'yes'."

"Okay, then."

Jiraiya wondered why he was bothering with sarcasm when obviously no one in the room beside him cared about what he was saying. Naruto yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes in a childish manner. _Here lies Uzumaki Naruto, bearer of the Kyuubi, feared by many, who still manages to look like a four-year-old boy sometimes. That brat is a mystery to me._

Jiraiya pinched the base of his nose wearily. "Time to go to bed, kids."

"Am not tired, ya old perv'."

"Shut up Naruto, you're way too wasted for me to listen to you."

"Noh... I want to drink again with Hina-chan! She's a great drinking buddy! Right Hina-chan?"

Hinata uttered a last "Aa?", before eventually keeling over and falling in a heap on the floor. Thank goodness for small blessings, Hyuuga Hiashi was not here to see his daughter in that horrid state.

The hermit clapped his hands together a couple of time to gain some attention, and failed completely. Naruto was still trying to sit up, and the Hyuuga had stopped moving altogether. "That does it, bed time for both of you. NOW!"

"Okay, sensei." Jiraiya felt the urge to smile. Naruto had stopped calling him sensei years ago. And now, out of all times, the old title was resurfacing. _What a cute brat indeed._

Naruto crawled toward his bed and once he reached it, he almost instantly fell asleep, snoring softly.

_Now, what to do with Miss Wasted here? Well, I just hope that they won't puke on each other's during the night. If they do, it'll teach them to not drink themselves silly again._ The hermit snickered at the thought and reached down to his belt, to take two small purple pills out of a black pouch. He squatted down beside the girl's slumped form. He reached out for her shoulder, and softly shook her, holding one pill in front of her face.

"Open your mouth, sweetie."

The dark haired girl slowly opened an eye and slurred, "Whazzit…? Sleepy…"

Jiraiya nose twitched at the sudden alcohol charged breath. "It'll keep you from being sick. Swallow it, and then I'll let you sleep, I promise."

"Mmh…'kay." She dizzily sat up and tentatively reached for the pill. She gave it a stern look as doubt crossed her features for a few seconds. But she shrugged and put it in her mouth with a tired look.

The hermit waited to be sure she swallowed it, and then walked over to the bed where the blond shinobi was lying. No need for delicacy here. He grabbed his disciple's jaw, forcing his mouth open, and stuffed the pill down his throat. Naruto didn't even have the decency to wake up, and a gurgling sound was the only reaction Jiraiya got out of him.

He then walked back to the centre of the room and took the already asleep girl in his arms, to carry her to the bed. She was limp and light, her head lolling on his shoulder as he carried her. Jiraiya put her down next to Naruto on the large futon, not bothering with the blanket, the nights were warm enough. He gave them a last glance before exiting the room, closing the sliding doors carefully behind him.

_Kids. They're just kids._

He silently went down the deserted hall, and passed by the lobby where Minawa was sleeping, head resting on her crossed arms. Such a peaceful night...

Jiraiya walked out and sat in the courtyard, listening to the night's soft noises. The sound of the water from the river nearby, the wind rushing through the leaves, the soft smell of mud, earth and wood, everything seemed designed to bring peace to the mind. He liked Waterfall Country, it reminded him of his hermitage.

_A new student huh… _

Jiraiya didn't particularly like students. They always ended up dying stupidly.

Barring Naruto, all his students had died. Two of them had died before even reaching the chuunin status. Nagato, Yahiko and Konan had not really been his students, but still. He'd taken care of them for a while before abandoning them, and it had ended badly, of course.

And the one left…

Well, the one left had been Minato. The biggest mistake of all. Because of Minato, Jiraiya had broken the shinobi code tacit golden rule: never care.

Jiraiya could still remember when he'd seen the snotty brat for the first time. Jiraiya was fond of these memories, when Minato had just been a bright kid with messy hair, with none of that 'Yellow Flash', or 'Yondaime Hokage' crap. He had been so fucking _young_. 'Too young', that was how Jiraiya had always defined Minato: too young to have his two teammates die on him, too young to go to war, too young to bury two of his students, too young to become Hokage.

After the death of his two teammates, Minato had refused to be incorporated in another team. So the elders had decided, logically, that Jiraiya should go on tutoring him. One of Konoha's legendary Sannin, teaching a genius boy, there stood the dream team! The elders had all been patting themselves on the back, a calculating gleam in their eyes.

But soon, Minato had become more than a simple student. What else could have come out of it, really? You don't spend weeks, months, years even, stuck with a brat without ending up _caring_ about him. To Jiraiya, the young boy had been like the son he never had.

He had seen him cry when his team-mates died, dream about peace, turn blanch and vomit, after his first kill. He had seen him bet his life, for a village.

He had seen his grave. _'Too young to die'_, indeed.

Jiraiya was not in Konoha when the Kyuubi had attacked. He had actually been sent away by Minato himself. A spying mission in the Sand Country, to keep an eye on the Yondaime Kazekage and his disgusting little experiments.

When rumors of the Kyuubi attack had reached him, Jiraiya had asked Minato if it was necessary for him, the Toad Hermit, to come back and fight along with his only student. Minato's answer had been short and carefree, as usual. "Don't worry too much, sensei. I know what I am doing!"

Minato knew so well what he was doing that he had left his last will on his desk before the final attack.

Something broke in Jiraiya's chest the day he learned that Minato had died. Something that not even Orochimaru's treachery or Tsunade's rejection had managed to scratch before. But the day Minato died, that thing deep inside him broke. Neatly, in half.

That day, Jiraiya had felt like an old man. It was as if the years were catching up, suddenly. It was horrible, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking… He had tried out all the words, searching for the ones that could describe his pain and allow him to move on. But no words could match the feelings that tore through him.

"No more", he had sworn, on that fateful day. No more, such a pain. He had left the village, with the firm intention of never being tricked into accepting another student again. He'd fled without asking about Minato's son. He had been afraid he would start caring again.

But life had been a bitch, as usual. Twelve years later, he'd run into the person he'd been avoiding all along.

Naruto was special, to say the least. At first, Jiraiya had only wanted to help the bratty blond boy with his chakra control, and somehow be redeemed of his debts toward Minato but it had soon grown out of hands.

Naruto was just like a maelstrom of feelings, grabbing you, dragging you kicking and screaming into the whirlpool of his little life. Once you approached the boy near enough to get a glimpse, it was already too late. You were stuck with him: you suddenly wanted to tag along, just to see when he was going to stop. But that was the thing: Naruto never stopped. Naruto was larger than life.

Naruto was just too much to leave behind. One day, you would wake up to understand that it was too late, you were already fond of him, you couldn't refrain from ruffling his hair or teasing him. You _cared_.

So the hermit had taken him along in the search for Tsunade. Not just because Akatsuki had been looking for the boy. But because Naruto had already managed to create his own place in Jiraiya's heart. Just beside Minato.

It was strange, how the two of them, Minato and Naruto, were so different, and yet so alike. The same hair, the same eyes, the same smile. And the same stubbornness, behind the smile. That face that seemed to say _'Do as you want, I don't mind. But don't try to change me, or else!_' Jiraiya had been surprised the first time Naruto had openly opposed him, not just to be a pain as usual, but because he was really opposing him. This time, Jiraiya could have sworn that Minato's shadow had been standing beside the boy.

Funny how the mind could play nasty tricks to old men's eyes…

Minato had been like the hermit's son, no one could replace him. But Naruto was not a replacement. He was Minato's_ legacy_. Jiraiya had decided to take care of him because he was so much like himself too; looking at Naruto was like glancing at the mirror.

And because Naruto was Naruto. That was enough of a reason.

Jiraiya had almost lost him too, in the Madara mess. After everything settled down, Naruto seemed to be okay. But Jiraiya knew better. He knew how the young man was feeling inside; he noticed the hollow look in the boy's eyes when Naruto thought that no one was watching him. He knew that something deep in Naruto had broken too, at that time. It was easy to understand. Looking at the boy was like looking at himself, forty years back.

The hermit never claimed to be omniscient, but he knew how the human mind worked. He knew what was going to happen to the boy if he stayed by himself. So he took him away. He had decided not to flee, that time. He had decided to be here, for his student.

For his family.

So here he was, like an old fool repeating mistakes, caring about another blond haired student.

To be totally _honest_, he was having quite some fun. Naruto was giving him a good excuse to behave childishly. And if there was one thing that Jiraiya loved better than a good cup of _umeshuu_, it was certainly to behave childishly from times to time. There was a strange symbiosis between the two men. They could understand each other without talking; during missions a flick of the hand was enough to communicate. Sometimes they would exchange roles too, the teacher would become a prankster, and the pupil would start complaining bitterly.

Jiraiya glanced at the starry sky, and slowly raised his hand above his head, before tightening it into a fist. _I swear I won't let this one die on me. This time, I'm going to be the first to go._

But now, the present problem was not exactly Naruto.

Another 'student'? Yeah, right, he was too old for that crap. Students always had these crazy expectations, and kept badgering him about _learning_. Naruto had finally taken the hint, and had stopped asking a couple of years ago.

So, a new _element_. A Hyuuga brat, on top of that? Jiraiya knew jack-shit about their bloodline, and was not about to start studying it anytime soon. He had never liked geniuses, old houses, bloodlines and all that boring stuff. They were all so damn _predictable_. This was why he had taken the lifestyle of a hermit, and had refused to be Hokage. He couldn't stand the formalities.

At least the girl seemed nice. In a clumsy, awkward and gauche kind of way. But…

Crud, what was he going to do with a dratted Hyuuga? _Hyuuga_! The family with the biggest stick up their butt in the _WHOLE_ Leaf! And not just any Hyuuga! The bleeding Heiress! Jiraiya had heard many bad things about that family. Not to mention the well-known fact that, when it came to downright nastiness, the Konoha elders could not even hold a candle to the Hyuuga elders. Maybe Jiraiya could trick the girl into refusing Naruto's proposition?

_Sheesh, stop being a brat about it, old man. If she wants to join, then you're not going to kick her out_.

And he had to be honest, that arm of hers looked damn interesting.

Behind him, the bushes rustled softly, and inquired in a slightly strangled voice: "Jiraiya-sama?"

The mighty hermit nearly jumped out of his own skin. Okami-san! He hadn't heard her approach!

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Takibana inn, Room 24, 2:43am_

.o0O0o.

* * *

Naruto rolled over in his sleep. Someone was hogging half of the bed and he could not lay sprawled the way he liked. He blinked blearily and looked out for whoever was hogging his bed. Oh, yeah, Hinata. Without thinking further, he grabbed her under the shoulders and hauled her bodily over him, draping her over his chest. With Hinata lying face down on his chest, and her legs between his, he could stretch his legs and his arms all over the bed's surface. Perfect.

With a contented smile, Naruto went back to sleep.

* * *

.o0O0o.

_Takibana inn, Room 24, 9:51am_

.o0O0o.

* * *

Hinata woke up to the worst headache of her life. Her whole body was aching, her hips in particular. They were bent in an odd angle, as if her upper body was higher than her lower. She tried wiggling her hips a bit, to alleviate the strain.

Someone grunted. Someone awfully close. Hinata had not so much heard the grunt than _felt_ it, reverberating through her ribcage. She was lying on top of someone. She cracked an eye open and tried to asses her surroundings.

Well. She was not seeing much, besides copious amounts of bare skin. Bare torso, bare shoulder, bare collar bone, and spiky blond hair. Her brain seemed to kick in at this. Naruto. Everything came back to her, the meeting with Naruto, talking, drinking, and somehow the hermit telling her to sleep. Hinata squeezed her eyes shut.

She could not move. Literally. She felt like… What was the sentence Kiba used all the time? Oh yes, she felt like _crap_. Each time she tried to move the smallest muscle, she felt drained. She decided to stay put for a while, to try to figure out exactly what had happened.

After a few seconds, she gave up. Her brain was not responding. So she just lay there, basking in Naruto's warmth, waiting for her body to wake up. It was the first time she woke up beside someone. Well. On someone. How had she ended up on top of Naruto? She should be crushing him, she reflected. But his breathing was even, not strained in the least. He slept like a baby. It was strangely peaceful, to wake up lying on someone. If it was not for her hips, she would feel perfectly at ease. Feeling another living being, so close to her, just the warmth slightly hanging between them, the lulling sound of the other's even breathing. She had the feeling to be part of something, for once. She could get used to it, she mused.

Alright, these were definitely _BAD_ thoughts, Hinata decided.

So she switched to the recent events instead.

Right. She had decided to join Naruto and Jiraiya's team. Wonderful. _How on earth am I going to get myself out of this one? _She had accepted without taking into consideration the consequences. Deep down in her heart, she had been yearning for that long awaited change, for something, _anything_, to happen. Her father would not be happy with her, but he might understand. But the Elders were another story.

She was disgusted by the Elders' behaviour, who were only interested in power. To them, dreams meant nothing. They had been spoiled of their dreams when they were young, and their only reaction was to spoil the young generations in return.

Hinata just wanted to be left alone, to be able to do things her way. She realised that she was merely running away from the problem, rather than trying to face it. Once married, her life would be sealed, like all the other women of the clan. Have kids, stay hidden, and weep pathetically when the ones you love are killed. Since when had she started fleeing like that? That was not like her!

Being with Naruto was so different. Last night she had more fun than in the whole last five years put together. Maybe she should accept. But again, was it a good move? What would she learn with him and Jiraiya? To have fun, to feel free? To start hoping, only to have it shattered again in less than two years? She did not think she could be strong enough to stand that. Yes, better refuse Naruto's offer. No hope at all was better than a lost one. _When Naruto awakes, maybe I should tell him I changed my mind. He will understand._

As she was still considering what she should do, she heard the room's wooden door slowly roll open. Immediately, old reflexes kicked in, and she slowed her breathing to mimic sleep. Who had just entered, friend or enemy? She heard very light footsteps nearing the bed.

Naruto suddenly jerked awake, aggressive chakra surrounding him. In one fluid movement he sat up, one arm circling around Hinata protectively, clutching her to his chest to keep her from being thrown off the bed in the momentum. Hinata guessed the other hand was extended protectively in front of them, in a classic defensive stance.

"Who the Hell is- ... Ero-sennin, what the fuck are you doing, creeping in my room like that?"

The Hermit answered in a deep and calm voice "Only three seconds to notice the intrusion. Not that bad, considering that you're surely sporting a hell of a hangover."

Naruto laid Hinata down the bed beside him, before falling back on the futon, rolling away from her. "Old toad, don't you have more interesting things to do? Don't tell me that annoying me is your one and only hobby, I know it's not."

"Quiet, brat, I'm here to talk."

At this Naruto grunted inimically and sat up. Hinata stayed still, she was confident enough about her ability. She had learned how to control her heartbeat and her breathing; she had even worked on ways to soothe her aura. That was one of her trump cards. More than once she had gathered information that way. Jiraiya sounded like he meant business: better listen closely.

The hermit footsteps came closer. "So Naruto, you laid her?"

Hinata's horrified hiccup ruined her cover, but since Naruto's fist connected to the hermit's jaw in a mighty punch at the same time, no one really paid attention.

The young man yawned, before sitting back down on the bed and asking "Another question, old toad?"

"No, I guess not. Damn Naruto, that was quite a punch. Why so much hatred? Am I not your beloved old teacher?"

"I already told you, Hinata is a friend. Disrespect her again, and you'll lose teeth."

"Don't be so full of yourself, brat."

"Tune it down, some people are trying to sleep here," snapped Naruto.

The conversation resumed in an ushered tone. "So, how is a hangover feeling like, brat?"

"I'm thirsty. And the room is swaying a bit. But that's all."

"No headache? That's good news."

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, I guess it's like everything, I need only one night to recover."

"Don't get too cocky. It once took you four months to recover from a certain injury."

The young man's voice seemed to darken slightly, as if irritated. "That was a different matter."

Hinata silently wondered what kind of injury could take so long to recover from. The hermit's voice brought her back to the present conversation.

"Anyway, that's not the point. Tsunade accepted your request, huh."

"Yeah. I was really surprised, though. I mean, I've never seen her accept anything so quickly."

"Don't worry over that. I'm pretty sure she has her own reasons."

"You know that old cow better than I do. Hey, old perv'? "

"Yeah, brat?"

"No more groping!"

"Groping the girl, you mean?"

"Yeah. I'm no fool, old lecher. I know I can't stop you from groping women. I'm just asking you to leave her alone. Deal?"

A pregnant pose ensued, where reluctance was almost palpable. Finally the white haired man gave in. "Deal. Though she's really nice to grope you know… You should try-"

"Hey, what did I say about loosing teeth?"

"I'm not disrespecting her! I'm complimenting her!"

"Old toad!"

"Ok, ok. But Naruto, do you understand what a woman in our teams means?" his tone had changed abruptly, and Hinata could tell he was serious again. Was he afraid that she was going to slow them down? Or that she would be a burden to them? Was he underestimating her, just because she was a woman? She was not the best kunoichi in Konoha, that was a fact, but she had always disliked people thinking that kunoichi could not be as good their male counterparts.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto in a puzzled tone.

"Well," Jiraiya drawled, "no more peeping, no more gathering data, no more-"

"Hey, talk for yourself!"

Jiraiya sighed in agony. "Naruto, you utter moron. Why can't you see that what affects me, affects you too? If I'm kept from gathering data, my creativity will wither and die, I won't be able to write decent stuff anymore, bankruptcy will loom and we'll starve to death."

"You know what I like most about you, old perv? Your unwavering optimism." The young man got up, and Hinata heard him walk across the room "Hey, old man, I'm going to bathe, you come?"

Jiraiya snickered before answering, "Why do you ask me? Afraid of getting lost? Or do you feel a sudden urge to share quality time with your teacher?"

"No. You stink like a goat, you didn't bathe yesterday. And spending time with you is not what I'd call quality time, trust me."

Hinata could almost hear the hermit pout. "That was low, Naruto. I _do_ like to share my hobbies with my skilled student."

Naruto snorted as Hinata heard the rustle of clothes, "Ah, so now I'm skilled. What happened to the whole _'Die! Just Die! You have no talent at all!' _talk?"

"You still suck as a shinobi. But you're turning into a fine pervert, drinking a girl under the table so you can grope her when she sleeps and-"

Naruto slammed the door open, "Okay, that definitely takes the cake. See you later."With that he stomped angrily out of the room.

Hinata felt the futon move when the toad hermit sat down on it. Her body tensed slightly; what was he up to? She still had yesterday unpleasant events in mind, and this time the alcohol was not here to cloud her judgement.

The hermit inhaled softly before starting talking slowly, carefully picking his words. "Miss Hyuuga? You've got a very good control of your body and chakra, I must say. I am really impressed. Unfortunately for you, I'm not exactly fooled by that kind of thing."

For a second, Hinata shut her eyes tightly in shame.

Honestly, who had she been trying to fool? Jiraiya was one of the Sannin! He was as strong as the Hokage, to cry out loud!

As if reading her thoughts, the old man went on, "Don't blame yourself, it was performed flawlessly. It's just that I'm not that easy to fool."

She remained silent, her gaze fixed on the wall.

She slowly sat up and craned her neck to steal a glance to the old hermit. His back was turned to her, as he was gazing at the garden through the open doors. What was he waiting for? Was he intending to stay here all morning?

The peace and the silence of the early morning were abruptly disrupted when a sudden explosion was heard, coming from the bathing place. Even though Naruto's room was quite far away from it, a loud string of curses could distinctly be heard.

Hinata was about to ask Jiraiya if this was indeed Naruto's voice, when the hermit started mumbling to himself, "Looks like I was right to wait a bit. Tsunade resorting exploding soap again huh? Quicker than usual too. Tsk tsk tsk, Naruto must have pissed her quite a bit this time. Well, that's his problem."

'_Exploding soap?'_, the kunoichi shook her head slowly. _'I don't even want to know…'_

"Hyuuga-san, there is something else I would like to talk about," the hermit said rummaging in his overcoat inner-pocket. He handed her a sheet of pale blue paper and asked her: "you recognize this, I suppose?"

Hinata immediately recognized it for what it was, a perfect chart of her left arm's chakra pathways, down to the Hokage's little artificial chakra ducts. She immediately went on the defensive.

"Where did you get this?"

"Yesterday, while you were busy yelling your head off."

Hinata blushed furiously. So. This explained that. She had fallen for the oldest trick of the book.

"You could have asked. I would have liked it better," she snapped.

"I am truly sorry. This is a terrible habit of mine, collect information first, save the chit-chat for later. Professional quirk, I guess," the hermit explained evasively, waving his hands in the air.

Hinata pored over the sheet for a few seconds.

"How long do you need to apply it, to get such an accurate picture?"

"You can get a good sketch with just a four seconds application. Sure, the longer the better, but four seconds are enough."

"I didn't notice a thing."

"Miss, I have been spying and collecting information for as long as I can remember. I know my job."

"That's why you… touched me?"

Jiraiya sighed heavily. "Yes. Once again, I'm sorry about it. It won't ever happen again."

Hinata paused a few seconds before mustering enough courage to whisper, "You swear?"

She could feel her cheeks burning.

"Yes my dear, I swear. I will never, ever lay my hands on you again."

Hinata looked up at the old man doubtfully. She was not entirely sure she could trust him.

"Naruto won't let me, anyway. He's very protective of you. It's a bit scary actually. He usually he pulls back his punches, but this morning, he went all out on me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," muttered Hinata, who was not at all _that_ sorry.

"Well, I earned it, I guess. Don't worry, as long as Naruto's throwing a fit, everything is peachy. He whines and complains a lot, but only over small things. It's when he turns mute that you need to begin worrying."

_That sounds so much like Naruto…_ thought Hinata, hiding a smile behind her hand. The old man had his faults, but he knew Naruto very well.

Jiraiya startled her by asking suddenly, "By the way, I suppose he didn't let you the time to think over it?"

Hinata shot the hermit a confused glance. "What do you mean?"

"Naruto, I mean. When he asked you to join the team? You were somehow presented with the facts and had to comply, hadn't you?"

Hinata's temper flared. She might not be the strongest willed girl in the Fire Country, but she was not going to blame it on Naruto. "Naruto-kun didn't force me."

"No, well, that's not what I meant. I meant." Jiraiya scratched his head before going on, "Miss, you must understand that Naruto is always affecting people, because he apprehends life using only his instincts. He wanted to be sure that you wouldn't feel rejected, that's why he kicked such a fuss about obtaining Tsunade's green light right away. Not because he wanted to force you into whatever decision."

"I see."

"Anyway, about the possibility of you joining our team. Let's make things clear. I don't want you as a pupil."

Hinata slowly tilted her head down, and had to refrain to start fiddling with her fingers. Well, she had been thinking of refusing anyway. So that settled it, did it not? The old man did not want her in, so she just had to pack her things like a good girl, and to get the heck away from that inn. But once again, things were imposed to her. What if she had decided she really wanted to join? That thought made her raise her head and hold the hermit's gaze. If he was going to tell her to get lost, at least she would be looking at him when he'd say so. No more fleeing.

Jiraiya looked straight back at her, trying to prod her determination, but she did not flinch. A lopsided smile appeared on the hermit's face.

"That's better! I like when I can see the eyes of the person I'm talking to! But don't misunderstand me. I don't want you as a pupil, so if you want to stay here, you're going to stay as a team-mate." This made Hinata break the eye contact. As the old man went on talking, she felt her cheeks redden again. "Despite what he says, Naruto is not my pupil any more. I'm too old to play teacher, and I'm sick and tired of brats who think I only need to snap my fingers to power them up. You're a jounin; you are supposed to be able to handle yourself. And this, joining or not, is a decision you need to take by yourself, with no one pushing you. Think over it calmly, before giving me your final answer."

Hinata looked at her hands for a second before whispering a few words.

The hermit leaned forward a bit. "Sorry, miss, but what was that? I'm afraid I couldn't catch everything."

"Naruto-kun said that-"

"To Hell with him. He won't die if you don't stay, trust me. Well, if he feels like antagonizing me he may throw a fit, but that'd be all. I don't want you to join just because you think that that's what Naruto wants."

"I will not!"

The hermit paused to reach for his pipe inside his shirt. He slowly lit it and began to puff smoke after a while, gazing lazily at the ceiling. "If you want to come along with us, I can't promise you a lot of things. I can't promise you a quiet or peaceful life. Most of the time, we're on the road, and our missions are frankly a pain in the neck. We always end up dealing with the mucky ones, because we're the only team available in the area, or because they have been refused by everyone else.

"I see."

"Miss, don't misunderstand me. You're 19, right?"

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama"

"At 19, ninja are adults, so I won't go all nice and fatherly on you. Naruto says you're a strong girl, and I believe his judgement. Most of the time, he doesn't even reflects over things and… he's a bit rash, but often right. He has a knack for understanding people. Anyway, this is not about this stupid boy, but about you. You, as many children coming from old houses, spent way too much time being sheltered, in my humble opinion. Respect tradition, go by the book and all that nonsense. It's time to bring some of your instincts out, little woman. You need to throw the book away and grab your own pen."

_Strange, how his words strike right at the problem, _reflected Hinata.

"And Hyuuga-san?"

"Yes Jiraiya-sama?"

"Don't stress yourself over the '-sama' stuff. I never was a _formal_ kind of a man. Okay?" He smiled down at her, and she noticed for the first time that he had kind eyes. She was still very much peeved at him, but she realized that there was more to the hermit than what met the eye. Maybe she could enjoy spending time with someone like him. _Maybe not anytime soon, though, _thought Hinata, wincing as she remembered his hands on her breasts the day before. Jiraiya started getting up, "That said, I'm off. See you later Miss."

Hinata climbed down from the bed, and sat down on the tatami mat. As she smoothed out her _yukata_ with the palm of her hand, she turned the hermit's words in her mind. _Throw away the book and grab my own pen, huh_?

She called out after the old man. "Wait, Jiraiya-sensei!"

As he turned around and gave her a questioning look, she smiled at him and said softy, "I haven't given you my answer yet."

Hinata slowly sat up and extended her delicate white hands in front of her, lowering them to the ground. Then, breathing deeply, she bowed low before the hermit Jiraiya, her brow almost touching the tatami mat. "Jiraiya-sensei, I would be honoured if you would consider me as a member of your team."

"Don't bow in front of your team-mates, young miss," said the old man, smiling down at her. "Very well then, Miss Hyuuga. Naruto and I are going to bathe, and you should bathe too, this may help you with the bit of a hangover you seem to have. Let's say we all meet up here, in one hour? There are a few things I want to try on these seals of yours. You'll see, we'll set you right in no time, Hyuuga-san!"

"Yes Jiraiya-sensei," Hinata nodded before adding "please, do call me Hinata".

"Wonderful then. Hinata, welcome in the Konoha Elite Toad Team!"

"Thank you"

"You'll see, we're going to turn you into a super pervert in no time!" he said, giving her the thumbs up before leaving.

As Jiraiya exited the room, Hinata shook her head disbelievingly. _Jiraiya-sensei…Can't you stay serious for more than five minutes?_

_._

* * *

_End of _

_Drastic Holiday, Chapter Two: Drastic Changes._

_TBC in_

_Drastic Holiday, Chapter Three: Drastic Sealing__. (a.k.a. Aesop's 'The Crow and the Fox', with a twist.)_

**Where :**

**Pace picks up,**

**Plot thickens slightly, **

**Themes darken considerably, **

**********BFFL Naruto & Sasuke show up,**

**Old myths are brought to life, kicking and screaming,**

**Why, hello there UST! It's so nice of you to show up randomly like that!**

**Naruto finally pauses to think about what he did. Mind-boggling experience, if you want my point.**

* * *

**A/N:**_ [weaboo] _the whole -_kun /-chan_ business is quite hard to grasp. It's highly personal.

Adding '_-kun'_ can indicate closeness, but then again, it can add some distance. Sakura does not use it for Naruto, but uses it for Sasuke because he's much more… difficult to reach (pedestal of Lurve and all that stuff) than Naruto, who is a bit like a childhood friend. A very annoying friend, but still. She'll most likely drop the '-kun' when things gets serious (in a romantic way) with Sasuke. Hinata comes from a very old, stuck-up family that tends to put ranks and titles everywhere. That's why she still calls her teammates 'Kiba-kun' and 'Shino-kun'

On the contrary, adding _-chan_ after a girl's name reduces the distance.

No title/suffix at all between two people who are the same age can be really tricky. Because it can either be neutral, or mean that the two people are extremely close.

So, in _distance_ terms, 'Hina(ta)-chan' is closer than just 'Hinata' (and then again not, in a warped way. Because of the 'no suffix = tricky bastard' rule), and 'Naruto' indicate more closeness than 'Naruto-kun'.

But YMMV. A lot. _[/weaboo]_

* * *

**Don't fav' and run! Review, please!  
**

**.**


	4. Drastic Interludes : Landslide

**NOTE: This is not Drastic Holiday's THIRD chapter, it's just an interlude. The third chapter will be uploaded TOMORROW. Thank you!**

* * *

**Disclaimer**: Many thanks to Ken for betaing this.

**Summary: **It started with a just few pebbles. Admittedly, Lee's frantic yells of "They eloped! They **E-LO-PED**!" had been quite large pebbles, but still.

* * *

.o0O0o.

**Drastic Interludes**

**1 : Landslide**

.o0O0o.

* * *

"Always a pleasure to work with you, Hyuuga," said Sai, taking off his _shishi_ shaped Anbu mask, "but I'm afraid I need to go now, Ino must be waiting."

Neji smiled tiredly and nodded at his fellow Anbu teammate. They had just dealt with a particularly nasty mission, and his clothes and hair were starting to stiffen as the blood soaking them was slowly drying off. He needed a bath, and he needed it right now. Without realizing what he was doing, the young man started walking faster, and in less than five minutes, the Hyuuga compound was in sight.

Neji liked coming back to the Hyuuga estate after a mission, he knew how lucky he was to have such a peaceful and relaxing place to cool down and collect himself after a hard day. He could not figure out how Sai could muster the energy to deal with Ino after a day like the one they just had.

Except that when Neji walked through the main gate into the inner courtyard this night, he was not exactly met by peace and harmony. Half of the clan seemed to have gathered here, and most of them were busy running around or yelling orders. Hiashi was standing right in the thick of this, his face purple with anger.

Before Neji could analyze what was happening, someone beside him yelled in an imperious voice "I demand an explanation for this rumpus!"

Rumpus? Half of the clan gathered in the same place and everyone yelling at the same time could hardly fit under the 'rumpus' category. Neji sighed. Why did Elders always had to put things in the silliest possible way?

A young man from the branch family named Nichirin ran up to the Elder and tried to placate the old man's fury.

"Hinomaru-sama, Hiashi-sama is only trying to -"

Nichirin's words were drowned out by Hiashi's angry tirade: "What does she think she is doing? She might be our Hokage, but that is clearly meddling with Hyuuga clan politics! She can NOT send the Heiress away from Konoha without a solid reason. My cloak! Where is my cloak! I need to see the Hokage right now!"

With a last huff, Hiashi strode out of the Hyuuga estate without even noticing Neji.

Neji scratched his head and decided that bathing now was the best strategy. Since the best part of the clan members seemed to be running around like headless chickens, the baths would be the calmest place. Plus, knowing his uncle, Hiashi would certainly require his presence to vent when he came back from meeting the Hokage. Better wash now before people started noticing he was back. As he left the courtyard, Neji could still hear Hinomaru-sama's angry voice.

"Why does no one answer my questions? Why am I being ignored like that? Ten years ago, I would have had the lot of you flogged for blatant disrespect!"

As he untied the straps of his Anbu uniform, Neji reflected that Hiashi's decision to ban corporal punishment two years earlier had been a stroke of genius.

* * *

.o0O0o.

* * *

Hyuuga mansion, Iris room

Neji sat as straight as he could and waited patiently for his uncle to start speaking. He did not have to wait long.

"The Hokage assigned Hinata to a new mission," Hiashi said after clearing his throat a couple of times.

"I see," answered Neji in an even voice.

Lately, Hinata-related matters had become a source of tension and division amidst the Hyuuga clan. There was that wedding thing she seemed to avoid, and the fact that the Elders had already tried to disown her three times this year. Unluckily for them, the clan's texts were pretty strict: the first child inherited of the Head of Clan title, full stop. There was no leeway there and Hiashi stuck to that rule like overcooked rice. Nothing could sway him. Hanabi was not helping, since she managed to show even less enthusiasm for the Heiress title than Hinata did, which was quite a feat indeed.

"Not just any mission you see," Hiashi went on, "as this one is supposed to last for two whole years."

"I see."

Neji decided to tread carefully. The Heir or Heiress were supposed to abandon their shinobi lives to concentrate solely on the clan matters once they were married. If Neji remembered correctly, the wedding talks concerning Hinata had mostly revolved around the 'as-soon-as-possible' aspect.

"And Hinata won't come back to Konoha for the mission duration," added Hiashi in a crisp tone.

"I -" Neji stopped in mid-sentence. Two years away from Konoha? What kind of mission was that?

As if reading his thoughts, Hiashi said: "She's to be incorporated in some obscure scouting team, I am told."

"Scouting team?" asked Neji in a doubtful voice. That was not Hinata's style.

"Yes, that team travels across the whole continent and reports only to the Hokage."

Hiashi paused, but Neji knew there was more to come. Indeed, after remaining silent for a while, the older man suddenly seemed to snap: "The Hyuuga Heiress, backpacking across countries for two years! What was the Hokage _thinking_?"

"I never heard of such a team," whispered Neji pensively.

"Neither had I, before tonight," Hiashi answered him, "well, the team leader is the Sannin Jiraiya, so at least it looks like it is serious. Still, what was the Hokage thinking, sending…"

As Hiashi rambled on, Neji squirmed uncomfortably on his _zabuton_. The Jiraiya team? But that meant that the other team member was-

"… and I don't trust that Uzumaki boy. The Hokage said that the Kyuubi seal was perfectly safe, but what if something happens to Hinata because of it?"

Ah. Hinata had decided to join Naruto's team. Actually, things made much more sense now that Neji knew about that particular bit of information.

"I see." Neji said, talking to himself as much as answering to his uncle.

"Neji, I will now go train in the dojo. I must not be disturbed."

"Very well, uncle."

* * *

.o0O0o.

* * *

The next day, when TenTen asked him about the 'Hyuuga commotion' as she labeled it, Neji briefly informed her of Hinata's new mission. Neji was not the kind to gossip, but TenTen was special, he knew he could entrust her with classified information.

The problem was that Lee and Gai-sensei managed to overhear the talk.

Later, Neji would wonder how they had achieved that, since they had been standing more than 30 feet away, and that he had actually been _whispering_ to Tenten, but at the time, he just desperately tried to shut the two men up.

Because of course, Lee and Gai had to make a fuss about it, ranting about Youth Power and the willingness to take destiny in your own hands. There were silly bits about the undying flame of love and eloping too.

Unfortunately for Neji, it was at this precise moment that Kakashi-sensei happened to stroll by, closely followed by Sakura and Sasuke.

After five minutes of stormy talk, where Neji desperately tried to stick to the 'mission' facts, and where Gai and Lee relentlessly trampled his best efforts, managing to grievously distort the truth by continuously yelling nonsensical sentences like "The Fire of Young Love finally burning high and clear" or "Braving the cold Hyuuga Elders for Love", Hinata's mission turned into an outlandish elopement.

At this point, a cold feeling of foreboding swept over the young man. He knew his sensei and his teammate well. Three years ago, the two of them had thrown pebbles down a mountain, just to prove that the "Warning: Landslide" sign was just there to dampen people's spirit.

Sure, no one had died, and Gai and Lee had been positively enthusiastic when they had had to clear the forest ground of the broken trees afterwards. But that was still a painful memory for TenTen and him.

Neji knew it was too late to stop this particular landslide. The only thing he could do was to sit back and pray for a lack of casualties.

Things went from bad to worse when Ino and Sai, alerted by Sakura's happy bubbling, joined the group and asked what this all was about. Sakura engulfed the blond girl into an over-enthusiastic hug, squeezing her tight and gushing happily about Naruto and Hinata's supposed eloping. Neji tried to step in, but Ino did not listen to him at all, she just yelled "You gotta be kidding me!" as loud as humanely possible. Sai had to add his own two cents in the form of a quip about Naruto's penis finally proving its usefulness.

Witnessing this, Neji's heart sank. The landslide was not about to stop anytime soon.

Later, the landslide completely failed to sway Shino, but it caused Kiba to lose his balance and to fall from Akamaru. Afterwards, Kiba justified the fall by pointing out that he had been practicing a tricky landing when his keen hearing had picked up the discussion.

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.o0O0o.

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One week later, Hyuuga estate, Zen garden

Neji, Hiashi and Hanabi were having the traditional after-training cup of tea, sitting in a row on the wooden _engawa_, Hiashi in the middle, Neji at his right and Hanabi at his left. They were gazing at the stone garden, when Hiashi suddenly turned toward Neji and spoke up: "What is that silliness I hear about Hinata eloping? Where did that rumor come from?"

Neji looked intently at his cup. Was it a tea leaf he saw floating there, or was it just a trick of the light? Nope, just light. Neji sighed heavily.

"This is simply preposterous," Hiashi continued, "Hinata is not the kind of pea-brained girl who would elope. She has not the slightest romantic fiber in her, that poor girl. I should know, I tried to talk her into taking interest in her suitors so many times, but do you think that worked? Pah!"

Neji opened his mouth, but Hanabi's frantic arm-flailing stopped him. The girl coughed softly to distract her father's attention from Neji.

"You are perfectly right, Father. Better not pay attention at all. You know how people like to gossip."

Neji stared at the stone garden wistfully. He hoped the landslide would stop soon.

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.o0O0o.

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**NOTE: This is not Drastic Holiday's THIRD chapter, it's just an interlude. The third chapter will be uploaded TOMORROW. Thank you!**

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A tea **leaf**, floating vertically in a cup of tea, is a good omen. Poor Neji.

Lee and Gai were able to catch what Neji said because the dynamic duo is sure that something is happening between TenTen and Neji. So they kind of spy on them, just to make sure that the fire of youth is indeed burning high and clear. No Lee/Gai bashing here. I love these two to bits. And yes, **InoSai**.

Let me know if you like these **cameos** from the supporting cast, and if you want to have a particular character make an appearance, feel free to **ask**! I'll see what I can do!

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**NOTE: This is not Drastic Holiday's THIRD chapter, it's just an interlude. The third chapter will be uploaded TOMORROW. Thank you!**


	5. 03 Drastic Sealing

_**3/ Drastic Seals**_ : where Aunty Exposition makes a last appearance before being definitely booted out of the story, Naruto thinks, Jiraiya experiments, and Hinata is a wee bit lost, again. _(Also, spoilers up to 478. I'm whisking Sasuke out of that Danzou fight.)_

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.o0O0o.

Dynamic Entry!_ -kicks the disclaimer-_

**Dedicated **to **Shadowkeepre**, because I said so; and to **SoulFire** for constructive criticism.

**Many thanks** to **Ken**, for betaing this heavy mofo ( 12 000 words or so), and to each and every person who took the time to leave a review.

**My most heartfelt apologies** to all readers for the hiatus (RL happened). Here's the long awaited third chapter: I'm cranking up the pace, things get darker, I'll be throwing sex talk and bloody fights in the mix, and characters might get hurt. **This fic is rated M**, remember.

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.o0O0o.

Drastic Holiday

Chapter Three : Drastic Sealing

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Takibana Inn, Bathing premises, 11:30 am

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Naruto sank in the warm water, careful to not let it reach the singed skin on his arms. One of the many drawbacks of exploding soap was that the burns it created managed to turn an otherwise pleasurable activity like basking in hot water into sheer torture. Naruto healed quickly thanks to the Kyuubi, but such wounds would remain sensitive for another good couple of hours at least.

He tried to find a comfortable position without immersing his arms in the hot water, and ended awkwardly propping his elbows on the pool border.

Closing his eyes, Naruto leaned back and smiled. He refused to let that old hag of a Hokage ruin a perfect day. Hinata joining his team was as if a bit of Konoha had travelled toward him. And not just any part at that, but Hyuuga Hinata herself! She had been with him during his academy years, and since she was one of the Rookie 12.

Was it only three years since he had left his village? It seemed more like five or six to him. One thing was sure, he missed it like crazy. The Leaf was not just his village, it was his roots, a part of himself.

But then again, the situation had been so messed up, three years ago, that leaving might have been one of the lesser evils.

Things had been a bit hectic at the time, to put it mildly, between Sasuke going from mere missing-nin to internationally wanted criminal in a couple of days, Sakura's half-assed confession to him before deciding to leave to kill Sasuke herself, and the Rookie 12 officially deciding to take down the last Uchiha with their own hands.

After the Kage's summit, Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato had caught up with Sakura just as she stumbled on Sasuke fighting with Danzou. Kakashi had tried to take a hold of Sasuke while Yamato and Sai took care of Danzou, but Madara had decided to conveniently teleport Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto himself to some godforsaken field in the middle of nowhere. The Akatsuki leader had then tried to pit Sasuke against Naruto by using Sakura as bait, ranting all along about destiny and bitter brotherhood.

To Naruto, Madara's tendency to fuck with people's head could not be excused just because the man had had a shitty life, and had told him so. Madara had not been too happy about it, and messed with the Kyuubi in retaliation. That was approximately when Sasuke had decided to get involved, and had tried to pull a _chidori_ on the man. Sakura had happily jumped in too, and had pulled a huge-ass battle axe out of nowhere. From then on, things had gone hazy.

Naruto's recollections of the fight were fuzzy at best. Had it lasted one hour, a day, a week? He could not tell, not even now. He just remembered the final attack, that stupid combo that should not have worked, no way, not even against a chuunin. But in a sheer bout of incredible luck, it had. Teamwork had been Madara's downfall.

When Naruto had woken up in the white hospital room in Konoha, he had immediately felt that something was wrong with him. He should have been overjoyed when Jiraiya told him that Sakura and Sasuke would make it, because that meant that Team 7 was whole again, right? But something, deep in his stomach, had felt wrong. He had felt like retching, and suddenly he could not stand the brightness of the white room. Back to Team 7, really? Was that even possible?

"What now?" was the question that had plagued his mind at the time. The emptiness he had felt and the lack of foreseeable solution had scared him shitless. Naruto could not help but wonder: had he been so blind all these years? Was there still something to work with? Had it all been a childish dream? Everyone and their brother had been telling Naruto to grow up, and he felt as if it had suddenly been happening to him. Was it that, growing up? Giving up on his what he held dear? Not giving a damn anymore?

He should have been bursting with happiness at the thought that Sasuke was finally back and that Team 7 was complete again, but he was just plagued by doubts. Things had not been that simple. To begin with, there had been the fact that Sasuke had not exactly decided to come back. It was more like Naruto and Sakura had dragged his knocked-out self back to Konoha without taking the time to ask him how he felt about it. Speaking of Sakura, her half-assed confession had not helped either.

Naruto had always wanted Sakura because she was fiery and because she, like him, had always wanted to be acknowledged. But when he had been standing in the middle of the falling snow, listening to the words he had waited for so long, he had only felt hurt and emptiness. Sakura had clearly been lying, trying to convince herself that she no longer loved Sasuke. Everything, from her body language to her hesitant tone, had been crying out bloody lies. That was not what he had wanted, not a confession laden with guilt, with the bitter after-taste of pity lingering in her voice. He'd always dreamed she would confess to him. But not that way. Not out of pity and cold logic.

That confession, which should have been a victory, had been his biggest defeat ever.

The next time he had seen her was during the fight against Madara, along with Sasuke, and after that they had been busy saving their strength going back to Konoha carrying a very unconscious Sasuke. Sakura had not mentioned the confession on the way back to Konoha, which had been perfectly fine by Naruto since he had not planned to address it either.

When Tsunade had ordered him to leave the village to go training with Jiraiya for a few years, a very, very small part of him had actually felt relieved. Leaving Konoha meant avoiding Sakura, which would actually give her some time to cool down and to reflect about her feelings, now that Sasuke was back. Naruto realized that somewhere along the way, his romantic feelings for Sakura had faded slowly, and disappeared. He still liked her very much, she was his teammate, and he had loved her for years, he could not just get rid of feelings like that. But there was nothing romantic in his feelings for her.

Still, leaving Konoha and Sasuke, who had just came back, without even saying goodbye had left Naruto feeling like shit. He had barely left Konoha's walls before he began to regret his decision

To try to alleviate the emptiness eating him, Naruto had started writing to Sasuke. Naruto had written clumsy letters, full of nonsense and smudged ink. He had never been good at writing, much to Jiraiya's dismay, but he kept on writing letters to his teammate nonetheless, one every week or so. In his letters, he talked about everything and nothing at the same time, raving about new toad jutsu and complaining about Jiraiya's snoring.

Nearly six months passed and nothing happened. But Naruto did not let that stop him, and he kept on sending a letter every week.

Then one day, as Jiraiya and Naruto were trying to work on the Kyuubi's chakra with Killer Bee and Hachibi, a hawk had appeared out of nowhere, with a small note tied to its leg. Two short sentences, hastily scribbled down in Sasuke's neat, bastardly handwriting:

'_I spent the last six months in a hospital room with Sakura constantly hounding me, and now that I'm finally back home, I find a mountain of letters from my OTHER teammate. What's with you both and your fucking mother-hen attitude?'_

Naruto had been so happy he could have bounced from walls to walls. He did, in fact. Killer Bee had even offered to write a Kabuki-style declamation to celebrate, but Jiraiya and Hachibi had managed to convince him not to.

From that day on, Sasuke had kept answering to Naruto's letters, and lately Sakura had taken to adding a couple of sentences in Sasuke's letters. Naruto had felt genuinely happy at it, to him it was the most tangible proof that Team 7 was finally back on tracks.

The only problem was that he was nowhere near Konoha now. So having Hinata join his and Jiraiya's team was like a gift from fate really. His link to Konoha was strengthening again.

Naruto had to admit he was fond of Hinata. Ever since the chuunin exams, Hinata had been one of Naruto's precious friends. He had been truly happy to share a few drinks with her the day before, she truly was nice to hang out with. It was going to be so fun to have someone his age in the team.

And she was so damn sweet! Now, in a way, he could understand Kiba's protectiveness when it came to his female teammate. Even though Kiba's reactions had always seemed a bit over the top to Naruto. The Inuzuka boy had always had a short fuse, but defiling Hinata in front of him was like throwing a matchstick at a pile of explosive kunai.

Like that time where the boy had punched the living snot out of a civilian man who had had the bad taste to make lewd jokes about Hinata within Kiba hearing range. Sai had then added to the mayhem by stubbornly asking what that "doggy style" thing was, as if it was an Inuzuka secret jutsu. Naruto let out a short bark of laughter, remembering Sakura's face at the time.

"Cackling by yourself is a bad habit, brat," said Jiraiya, sitting down in the pool beside him.

"Old toad, don't surprise me like that!" retorted Naruto dryly, splashing some water at his mentor. After thinking a bit, a sudden realization struck him: "You knew about the soap! That's why you decided to wait a bit before bathing!"

"Might be so," conceded the hermit

"You could have told me!" fumed Naruto.

"Hey, you should have suspected it. It's not like she was being very original. It's what, the fifth time she's done this?"

"Sixth," admitted Naruto grudgingly.

"Sixth, really? Did I miss something?"

"This is not the point. I mean, why is she so bitchy?

"Hm. I have absolutely no clue. Not at all. This surely has nothing to do with the fact that she was in an important meeting with the Mizukage when you told her to get milked."

"Oh. Was she now?" asked Naruto in a detached tone.

"Indeed," drawled Jiraiya, dipping his small towel in the hot water.

"Hm. Old Toad?" asked Naruto, deciding that a swift change of subject was needed.

"Yes, stupid brat?" answered the old man with a smirk.

"How did your pep-talk with Hinata go?"

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at him, before answering slowly. "It went well. She doesn't look like it, but she's a fiery one."

Naruto smiled and nodded enthusiastically. He was glad Jiraiya approved of her. After all, the old man was the closest thing to a father-figure Naruto had, even though he did not like to admit it openly.

He had slipped only a couple of times in his life. The first time had been when he had gone four-tails and nearly killed the old man. The other time had been after Jiraiya's fight against Pain, one of Akatsuki members. Jiraiya and Tsunade had fought together against that man, but they had paid a huge price. Tsunade had ended up in a coma for two months, and Jiraiya had gone M.I.A. for a whole week after the fight. The village had been in an uproar, the vacant Hokage position being everyone's main priority. No one had cared much about the remaining Sannin, and to be honest, no one thought the old man could have survived. The worst part had been that none of the frogs had answered Naruto's summoning during that week. It was as if he had never had a summoning contract to begin with.

One week later, Naruto had seriously been starting to lose hope when Jiraiya had appeared in front of Konoha's gate, unconscious and his right arm badly mangled. It had taken nearly a month for Konoha's medics to set the old man right. He stayed delirious for a long time, raving about a 'destined child' and stuff like that. Naruto did not care, had been beside himself with happiness when he had learned that his teacher had been alive, and had spent many evenings talking to his unconscious mentor.

That said, he'd rather eat flies than admit it openly to the old man.

"Hey boy! Daydreaming again," chided the hermit.

"You know what? I'm getting out of this bath, you're just ruining the mood. That, and I absolutely don't want to hear you complain again about what soaking in hot water for too long does to some parts of your anatomy," replied Naruto in a clipped tone.

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.o0O0o.

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**Fire Country, Konoha, Hyuuga Estate**

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Neji sat down in front of his _chabudai _table, and opened his ink set. He slowly rubbed the ink stick on the ink grinding stone, carefully adding some water. He focused on his work, trying to block-out the yells filtering through the wooden walls. One particularly loud outburst coming from his uncle made him flinch, which had him nearly spilling the black ink over his wooden table.

Hyuuga Hiashi was a very collected man, most of the time.

Hinata's sudden decision to leave Konoha for a two-year mission seemed to have been the last straw, though. Neji had never seen his uncle have such a fit. After coming back from the Hokage's tower the day before, Hiashi had spent the whole night in the dojo, which was now closed for 'rebuilding purposes'.

Things were not looking any better now. The man was sitting in the middle of the Iris room, and lashed out verbally at anyone who was foolish enough to come near him. Since the Iris room was literally in the middle of the estate, this had people trekking through the moss garden to go from one wing to another. Even the elders were not spared, and Neji was pretty sure Hinomaru-sama had never been called a "nosy old baboon" before today.

After checking that the ink was sufficiently thick, Neji dipped a brush in it and started writing.

_Dear cousin, _

_I hope this letter will find you in the most exquisite health, and that the weather is not too hot to bear. _

_I am writing you this short note to let you know that trying to establish contact with Hiashi-ojisama right now is not recommended. You will find that leaving him a few days, or weeks, to come to terms with your reassignment to Jiraiya-sama's team might be highly profitable._

_Please give my best wishes to Naruto, and be sure that Hanabi, Himawari and Nisseki join their warmest regards to mine._

_Do let us have your news from time to time._

_Your loving cousin,_

_Hyuuga Neji._

_PS: Also, pay no heed to mentions of elopement. It is merely a passing fad._

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.o0O0o.

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**Waterfall Country, Takibana Inn, 12:14 am**

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Jiraiya tightened his sash and stepped out of the changing room into the corridor, where he nearly bumped into his pupil and Aiko, the youngest lady of leisure of the Takibana inn. The young woman was toying with bangs of her long hair, smiling her sweetest smile at his blond pupil.

"Tell me, Naruto-sama, can I visit you tonight?"

"Of course Aiko-chan! I'd be happy to oblige!" replied Naruto cheerfully at the petite woman, who smiled radiantly and whirled around after bowing sprightly.

Jiraiya watched her leave and groaned. She had not even spared a glance at him. Hanging out with Naruto was bad for his self-esteem.

It had all started a year ago, when Jiraiya had decided to drag a very reluctant, kicking and screaming Naruto to a brothel to have him initiated to the joys of sex. Having a pupil who was still a virgin at 18 was not something the hermit's pride could cope with.

The old man had strategically waited for the right time: one day, when Naruto's hormones had been playing merry hell with his focusing during training, Jiraiya had taken the boy to the nearest brothel. Naruto had been reluctant at first, calling Jiraiya names all the way there, but he had finally complied.

The following day, without saying a word, Naruto had followed Jiraiya back to the brothel. And the day after that too.

At first, Jiraiya had congratulated himself for dealing masterfully with his student's introduction to the world of physical rapture, but on the fourth day something strange happened.

When they arrived at the brothel, the women all but ran toward them, each begging Naruto to spend the night with her. When Naruto finally picked one, the gleam of triumph in her eyes had been impossible to miss, as well as the clear disappointment of the remaining women's faces.

Jiraiya had been livid with jealously at the time. He had always prided himself in his great love skills, and could proudly say that he had never left a woman wanting. It was on his top motto list, along with 'there's no such thing as an easy lay' and 'cheap sake is not the answer, always go for top stuff'. Generally, the ladies were happy to see him arrive, and often smiled coyly at him. But they had never fought over him!

Yet that student of him, still wet behind the ears, was so popular in the red lantern district that it was nearly ridiculous.

That insanity went on for nearly one week before Jiraiya finally decided to put his foot down after a particularly unsettling event.

One evening, all the women had been waiting in line as usual, but they had been dead silent, with none of the usual 'He's here!' shrieks and subsequent catfights. They had just shoved a young girl, almost a child really, no older than 15 toward Naruto. The girl had been like a frightened little mouse, hiding behind her kimono sleeves, tears streaking her cheeks and smearing her make-up. The women had unanimously begged Naruto to 'take care' of that young girl.

Naruto had nodded gravely, before disappearing with the girl, only to show up two hours later, with the girl clutching at his arm _glowing_ with happiness.

The whole room had erupted in cheers, and Jiraiya had been crestfallen at everyone's obvious lack of common sense. It was like Minato's sex appeal thing was happening all over again.

Enough being enough, Jiraiya decided to spy on Naruto the following night.

After all, the hermit had told himself to ease the guilt and scruples, it was data gathering too. If the brat was indeed using some special technique, well, it could be useful for the Icha-Icha books. So the old man sat in the roof, a few inches from Naruto's room window and waited for the things to heat up, his pen poised over a notebook. Except that things did not heat up at all.

Naruto and the woman did nothing remotely sexual. They did not even kiss. They were just sitting on the bed, sipping tea, and chatting. They talked about many things, but mainly about the girl's life. Her hopes, her dreams, herself. Naruto listened politely all the time. After a while, the hermit realized that Naruto was not just listening, but that he was seriously taking interest in the girl's story.

Jiraiya stayed there and listened for a good couple of hours. He finally left when the girl started talking tearfully about her family in Kusa, because that was clearly not meant for his ears.

He went back to his room and started grilling the girls about Naruto. First they hesitated, but soon they started talking, all at once.

"Well, you know, he's the only one who listens to us!"; "He doesn't judge, and he's genuinely interested,"; "Yes! That's the thing, he's not just pretending, he's really taking interest!"; "He even remembers my little brother's name!"; "He actually _listens_ to us, to him we're not just lumps of meat, here only to satisfy his libido. No offense meant there Jiraiya-sama, but you know what I mean, right?"… The list went on and on. Jiraiya cringed every time a woman said 'no offense meant, but'.

He had to admit it, this ability of his pupil to put everyone at ease, the way he managed to understand everyone's plight was one of Naruto's best qualities. It was just slightly disturbing that he used it on brothel girls instead of sleeping with them.

If Jiraiya wanted to be truly honest with himself, it was more saddening than disturbing. Naruto as a kid had been deprived of human warmth, so to him, just talking with someone was satiating. He did not have to go all the way to be satisfied as a simple conniving smile was enough to appease his craving for human warmth. The boy coped with his needs by spending the night talking with a girl, showing understanding. Surely because he himself knew how harsh it was when no one tried to understand you, when everyone thought you were no more than what you appeared to be. Jiraiya wondered if it was because Naruto had drawn parallels between himself and the prostitutes: as they had not chosen to be sold by their parents to escape poverty, he had not chosen to receive a sealed monster in his body to save a village either.

That kind of thinking triggered some unwanted emotions in Jiraiya's psyche, like guilt over running away instead of being there for Minato's kid, so he never pried. He never confronted Naruto about this. He went on with his salty quips, and never let it show that he knew the truth.

Well, Jiraiya could not really complain. After all, word of mouth travelled fast in the red lantern world, and from then on, Naruto's fake identity (Kinoshita Makito) had always granted them the right of entry in the best houses of any restricted districts.

"Old man, who's daydreaming now?"

"What?"

"I said," said Naruto in an exaggeratedly slow voice, "what do you want to eat?"

"Karaage will be fine," answered Jiraiya, half-annoyed, half-amused.

"Again?"

"Yep, again. Don't forget to take something for Hinata too."

"As if!"

As Jiraiya entered his room, he was surprised to see the Hyuuga girl already there, sitting straight in front of the _chabudai_, her legs neatly tucked under herself.

"Already here Hinata?" he asked, sitting down on the other side of the low table. "Then you can tell me about your arm! We'll start by the beginning if you want."

"Yes Jiraiya-sensei. Six months ago, as I was coming back from Sand Country I decided to cut by Mt. Takao and…"

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.o0O0o.

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As Naruto did his best to balance the three trays of food he was carrying, he kept wondering if he had picked the right thing for Hinata. He had no clue what the girl liked to eat, and since the inn kitchen did not serve that universally acclaimed and loved food that ramen was, he had been at a loss. So he had just picked randomly some food instead. As he arrived in front of Jiraiya's room, he used his foot to slide the door open, and called out: "Hinata-chan, I hope you like _oyako-don_!"

"I do like it, Naruto-kun," said Hinata with a smile, taking the tray from his right arm. She sat down and inhaled deeply. She looked ravenous. Naruto noted that she had reverted to adding the 'kun' after his name. He briefly wondered if it meant he had been too pushy the day before.

"Naruto," pested Jiraiya, "we were in the middle of something you know. Do you always have to barge in and yell the house down?"

"Shut up, or I'll eat your chicken _karaage_," chided Naruto.

"Sit down already, the food will get cold," said the hermit before turning back to Hinata and resuming their conversation:

"So, what was I saying before this idiot interrupted us? Ah yes, we were discussing Tengu categories. From the size, and the fact that you can still use your arm freely, I'd say it was used for a Karasu Tengu. With a Yamabushi Tengu, or a Dai Tengu, you'd have lost the use of your arm. Am I right?"

"Tengu? What's that Tengu stuff? 'name rings a bell," said Naruto before shoveling a large spoonful of deep-fried pork curry in his mouth.

Jiraiya made a point of ignoring him, and kept looking interrogatively at Hinata. She had been about the dig in her plate, but as the hermit addressed her, she gingerly put her chopsticks down and shook her head.

"I'm afraid I don't know at all, Jiraiya-sensei. I'm sorry."

"Alright," said the old man, before chewing thoughtfully at a piece of fried chicken. Naruto watched as Hinata waited for a moment before tentatively reaching for her chopsticks again. As her fingers were about to touch the wooden sticks, Jiraiya asked her yet another question: "You said you got that on the mount Takao, right?"

"Yes, Jiraiya sensei," answered Hinata, looking forlornly at her rapidly cooling meal.

"Then I'm pretty sure it's a Karasu Tengu," mused Jiraiya before eating another chicken piece.

Naruto gulped some cold barley tea to help down a barely chewed piece of pork before pointing an accusing spoon at the white-haired man, "Hey, do you mind? You talk way too much, Hinata-chan can't even eat in peace!"

Hinata's cheeks colored as she shook her hands hastily: "No, no, don't worry Naruto-kun, it's my fault! See, I'm eating!" she said in a rushed voice, picking her chopsticks in one hand and the earthenware bowl in the other one.

"I'll keep him busy! Take your time, Hinata-chan," whispered Naruto out of the corner of his mouth.

"So Ero-jiji, what the fuck is that Tenku thing you were babbling about?"

"Ten_gu_, Naruto, Ten_gu_. Karasu Tengu in particular. These are forest sprites with the body of a man and the head of a crow. They are capable of many vile things, from creating illusions to kidnapping and mental maiming. One of their favorite tricks is the Tengu Kakushi: they abduct human beings, mostly kids, and mess with their head a bit before living off of the kid energy, sucking them dry. Hinata here came across a kid who had in all likelihood been abducted by a Tengu. She then stupidly volunteered to serve as bait in a purification ceremony, and ended up with her chakra ducts completely fouled up."

"But Jiraiya-sensei," protested Hinata, "it was the only solution! The Tengu was possessing the boy, it would have killed him."

"That was totally immature, point. Being a hero is not all what's it's hyped to be. People forget about heroes quite quickly, trust me!" Jiraiya sighed before adding under his breath, "now I have two stupid, immature and hot headed students. Yay me."

"Well," scoffed Naruto, "she saved a kid's life and we both know you can't wait to set her right to show off your sealing mumbo-jumbo skills. So stop grunting like the old bear you are."

"It's not that easy boy," said Jiraiya offhandedly while scratching his chin, "I think the Tengu is still in her arm."

Sudden choking noises coming from Hinata made Naruto turn around. The girl was looking at the old man with her eyes as wide as saucers.

"What? But the medicine woman told me that without access to my mind, the Tengu would just die!"

"Yeah, well, that old hag kept some things from you. Like the fact that to Tengu and other parasites, like a certain furry animal with nine tails I will not mention, chakra is as good as mental energy. So I'm pretty sure that thing is still alive in there," said Jiraiya pointing at the girl's arm.

Hinata's face turned ashen, and she pushed the bowl away from herself and put down her chopsticks.

"I think I'm going to be sick" she said, in a strangled whisper.

"No you won't girl, it's just the shock, you'll feel right as rain in a minute. Plus, keep in mind that if you puke on the tatami, the cleaning bill will be on you."

"Old toad!" yelled Naruto indignantly.

"What? I'm not paying for tatami cleaning! Minawa is always absurdly overcharging us."

Naruto kept glaring daggers at Jiraiya, but the old man did not seem to notice at all, as he was focusing on polishing the plate off the last fried chicken bits. When he was finished, he rubbed his stomach contently.

"Alright, time to get serious. Naruto, you bring the food trays back to Minawa, and Hinata, dear? I'll have a look at that arm."

When Naruto returned five minutes later, Hinata was lying on her back in the middle of the room, her left arm bared to the shoulder, spread over one of Jiraiya's giant sealing scrolls.

The old man had already started writing on the scroll, black ink tracing intricate sealing designs on the white paper.

As Jiraiya tied his yukata sleeves to keep them from hindering him, he glanced thoughtfully at the girl.

"Tell me Hinata, did your arm bleed a lot the first time the seals were performed?"

Hinata thought for a second before nodding, "Yes, quite a lot."

Naruto watched like a hawk as the old man then performed and unknown series of hand seals before slamming both his hands on the floor. Nothing seemed to happen. Catching Naruto's questioning glance, Jiraiya shook his head: "Nothing important brat. I just want to make sure the tatami will stay blood-free."

Turning toward Hinata, Jiraiya asked her: "Did it hurt a lot?"

"It was painful," admitted the girl.

"Right, okay then. I'll try to be quick my dear, but I think it's better if we make sure you stay still. I'll use a binding jutsu to keep you from moving your arm. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, Jiraiya-sensei," answered Hinata meekly.

"Good girl," said Jiraiya, patting her shoulder.

"Naruto, you sit there and you don't move," ordered Jiraiya while pointing at a _zabuton_.

"Okay, okay," grunted Naruto. Seeing as Jiraiya was still staring intently at him, he bristled: "What? I said I wouldn't move! You think I will?"

"That's a very asinine question, my boy. As a matter of fact, I know you will. It's just a question of 'when'."

Naruto huffed and the old man went back to his fumbling with his brushes without another word.

"Alright, Hinata, we're doing this now. You're ready?"

"I am, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Good."

With an intent look on his face, the old man set to work diligently. His brush was running over the white paper, splashing black ink. Then he positioned his left hand over Hinata's wrist, and his right one on her elbow. His fingers, overflowing with chakra, connected to the girl's skin at the same time.

Hinata gasped and bit her lower lip, squeezing her eyes shut.

"It's alright girl, hang in there. I've just slightly modified the old seals, and now the new ones are going to merge in. It'll be finished soon."

Hinata nodded feebly, and Naruto's eyes grew wide as he saw the skin starting to crack around her wrist and her elbow, blood welling up slowly, running down her hand in steady trickles.

Naruto watched anxiously as his teacher activated the first circle of seals on the scrolls. He watched to signs glow red before sliding quickly toward Hinata's wrist. As the ink was about to leave the paper to land on her skin, it suddenly stopped progressing and recoiled, like tiny little black snakes, falling back listlessly on the scroll paper.

"Shit!" hissed Jiraiya.

"What's happening?" asked Naruto in an urgent voice.

"That kind of seal doesn't work, I need to try another kind," explained the hermit in a rushed voice, fumbling for another brush.

Hinata's arm was now bleeding profusely, and to Naruto it looked almost as if something was moving under her skin. He glanced at Hinata, and was startled to see how ghostly white her face was. She was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, and tears were running down her scrunched up eyelids.

Suddenly, a spasm racked her body and she let out a small whimper as blood mixed with dark chakra spurted from her wounds.

"What the…?" whispered Naruto, hypnotized by what was happening to his friend's arm. Dark chakra waves were now pouring out of her arm, and blood was covering the whole scroll.

"Hinata hold on!" yelled Naruto, almost frantic, "Jiraiya! Do something! She's hurting!"

"What do you think I'm doing? Shut up!" snarled the old man before wiping the blood smudging the scroll and scribbling furiously.

"I'm okay, don't worry, I'm okay," hissed Hinata through gritted teeth. She twisted her legs and writhed a bit on the floor, as if trying to alleviate the pain that was coursing through her body. Her left arm's state was steadily worsening, and now something was clearly moving in there. Suddenly, the skin on her upper arm started breaking too.

"Hell, it's destroying the other seal!" Jiraiya uttered in a blanch voice.

At that precise moment, Hinata's eyes flew open and she wailed, her body twisting under the assault of pain. She started kicking furiously at the tatami mats, before rolling over, her eyes wild. She tried to get up, but her left arm was stuck to the scroll and she could not move. The pain was driving her crazy, Naruto realized as she started punching at her left upper arm, as if trying to stop the pain's progression.

"Oh no you don't girl," grunted Jiraiya, battling her hand away with the haft of his brush, "cutting the chakra flow won't help!"

Naruto watched, helpless, as Hinata brought her right hand abruptly to her mouth, biting into the fleshy part of her hand to stifle her cries.

Watching the blood run down her right arm too, Naruto panicked and without thinking, he reached out to her, wanting to get a hold of her to keep her from injuring herself further.

"No! Don't touch her!"

Naruto just had the time to hear Jiraiya's desperate yell before everything went black.

.

.

* * *

.o0O0o.

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.

Naruto did not need light to know where he was, the familiar sinking feeling in his stomach accompanying the slight change of gravity was enough to let him know what had happened. Turning around, the boy glanced at the monstrous silhouette behind the red _torii_ portal. The Kyuubi was sound asleep.

Two years ago, Jiraiya and Killer Bee had modified the seal, with the help of Naruto's father leftover chakra. At the time, Killer Bee had insisted on 'revamping' the whole thing, as he had put it. The Kumo-nin proposed to use the same sealing he had for Hachibi, delimiting the Kyuubi's place with a red _torii_ and _shimenawa_, holy rope. Since the Kyuubi was a spirit, these were as effective as a cage, and 'much less depressing', according to Bee.

"Wathever," grunted Naruto as he remembered the other _Jinchuuriki's_ eccentric tastes.

Naruto stared at the sleeping _youkai_. Well, he had to admit that their relationship was a bit less strained now, thanks to the shitload of 'symbiotic training' hours Bee had forced on him. Naruto and the Kyuubi were almost down to cordial insults now and the youkai had not peed on him in ages.

Drowning in a pool of piss was definitely not Naruto's idea of fun.

Naruto walked over to the torii and clapped in his hands a couple of time to rouse the sleeping _youkai_.

"Hey, ShitFox, why the fuck am I here this time?"

Kyuubi opened an eye, lazily.

'NICE OF YOU TO BRING VISITORS AGAIN, RUNT. WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS PLACE IS? YOUKAI EXHIBITION? FUCKING HUMANS.'

"What are you babbling about?" asked Naruto skeptically, "I did not bring anyone-"

"Naruto-kun! Where are we?"

Naruto whirled around, only to discover Hinata standing behind him, carrying a bird cage containing a black crow in her left hand. Tied to the cage, a black rope was tightly weaved around Hinata's arm and it ran all the way up to her shoulder.

"Hinata-chan?" spluttered Naruto, "how did you come here? It's dangerous, you need to go back!"

The girl's eyes were wide open, and her ragged breath was coming in short puffs. She looked completely panicked.

"I don't know how I came here Naruto-kun! It all went black and then I was standing here! My hand is tied to this, and I can't let go," she blurted out, tugging at the strands of rope covering her left arm, "this rope feels like it's getting tighter and the cage feels heavier by the second," she added in a quivering voice, "Naruto-kun, what's this place? Why am I here?"

Naruto did not answer, as his eyes were riveted to the cage Hinata was carrying.

"Hinata-chan, isn't that crow getting bigger?"he asked, pointing a shaky finger at it.

"What?" asked Hinata in a strangled voice. She tried to lift the cage in front of her eyes to look at the crow, but it seemed to be too heavy for her to do so.

That was when the cage dissolved into a black sludge, merging with the rope. The black mass, thick as molasses, started fastening over Hinata's arm, quickly progressing toward her shoulder. Out of this black mass, a silhouette started to form. First, a crow-like head emerged, then a human torso and arms started to take form.

"What the fuck is that?" yelled Naruto, pointing at it.

"Ten…gu," gasped Hinata, her voice coming out in panicked hiccups. Her arm was now completely covered by the black goo, and the torso of the Tengu was fully formed. The sprite's head whipped around, and it cawed at Hinata. In the blink of an eye, it fastened its hands around Hinata's throat and started strangling her.

"Hinata!"

Without hesitating, Naruto jumped in, battling the hands away, trying to wipe Hinata's arm clean of the black stuff, but it had already started spreading around her upper-body too. Naruto was almost sure he could hear her thoracic bones crack under the pressure.

Hinata coughed and blood landed on Naruto's cheeks. He could feel it, warm and sticky, running down the side of his neck. He gritted his teeth and went on trying to push the sludge off of Hinata's body.

"Let go of her, you fucking bastard!" snarled Naruto, tugging helplessly at the thing's slimy fingers, but Hinata was already starting to choke.

"Hinata! Hold on!"

He could feel her body being sucked away, deeper into the black mass that was now covering her entirely. Naruto plunged in and snaked an arm around her waist, trying to pull her back toward him, but almost immediately he started feeling the pull too. He realized he was going to get absorbed if he stayed there, but he just could not give up on Hinata. Baring his teeth, Naruto hold fast on her slim body and pulled again, using all his strength.

Where it had come in contact with his skin, the black sludge started spreading slowly, burning his skin away. The pain was excruciating.

A split second later, Naruto felt the Kyuubi's chakra envelop him and the pain stopped abruptly.

"YOU FILTH, YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY HOST! HE IS MINE! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw the Tengu's head turn toward the Kyuubi, as it started cawing angrily and hissing at the much larger youkai.

Naruto felt the Kyuubi's chakra surrounding them, pressuring the Tengu back into its cage. In no time, the black goo covering them dissolved into smoke and the cage reappeared, with the Tengu in it, back in its crow form. Naruto caught Hinata's limp body before she could fall, and laid her gently on the ground.

_Na..u..o_

He tried to wipe the blood smearing her chin with his yukata's sleeve.

_Na…to…_

Naruto stilled, his ears strained. He could have sworn he had just heard someone calling his name, but nothing happened. Glancing back at Hinata's still form, he tried to devise the best course of action. He needed to go back to the real world, but she was obviously unconscious, _in_ _his_ _mind_. How did that work? Was it safe to wake up now? Or did he-

_Naruto…_

Naruto abruptly stood up. Someone was really calling him!

_Naruto! _

Actually, thought Naruto, that sounded an awful lot like the old lecher's voice.

"_NARUTO! Wake up you moron!"_

.

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* * *

.o0O0o.

.

.

Naruto woke up back in the Takibana inn. He was half-lying on the _chabudai_, staring at the painted ceiling and Jiraiya was shaking him like a ragdoll. He tried to focus blearily, but he just had time to see Jiraiya's arm draw a large arch in the air and the hermit's hand rushing toward his face. The strength of the blow made his head whip around and bounce painfully on the wooden table.

"Ow," howled Naruto, "what the hell was that for! I was awake, for fuck's sake!"

"You were awake? Well then, consider this as payback for touching her when I repeatedly warned you not to! Thank goodness, you snapped out of it!"

Dropping Naruto unceremoniously, the old man rushed back toward an unconscious Hinata, and unfurling another scroll, he set to work again.

Naruto crawled toward the two of them, and arrived just in time to see the black ink settle on Hinata's skin. Jiraiya wiped his damp brow and let out a sigh.

"Well," the old man said in a strained voice, "I don't know what the hell happened, but it gave me enough time to seal that thing."

"Oh, that?" mumbled Naruto sitting up slowly, "Kyuubi went territorial on its ass. He was a bit grouchy today," he groaned, rubbing his sore jaw.

"A bit grouchy?" asked Jiraiya, an eyebrow cocked. "Do I want to know?"

"No," answered Naruto flatly.

"Yeah, I thought so," quipped the hermit, checking Hinata's pulse.

"Is she going to be fine?"

"Yes, she'll stay out for a while though. Go get some wet towels and clean the blood off her arm, will you?"

Naruto, still groggy from Jiraiya's punch, stumbled to the bathroom and soaked a couple of hand towels in hot water. After wringing most of the water out of his, he trudged back to Hinata and started carefully wiping her arm. He was surprised to find almost no traces of the wounds.

"How come the wounds are already closing up?"

"These are not normal wounds," answered the hermit, busy sorting out his brushes and scrolls, "they are kind of like seals wounds. Remember the time your seal almost cracked? You had blood gushing out of it."

"Yeah, but it didn't hurt that much," protested Naruto.

"That's because it was just the seal acting up. Here, the Tengu chakra in her arm was trying to burst out. So it caused her real pain."

"I see," said Naruto, who in fact did not see at all. Sealing stuff had never been his forte anyway.

Jiraiya got up and looked down at him for a moment.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine. You can bandage her arm if you want, but I think she'll be completely healed in less than an hour."

"Yeah, I'll bandage her," said Naruto after thinking a bit, "just to be sure."

The old man walked to the bathroom and chucked a roll of bandages across the room at Naruto, who deftly caught it and dressed Hinata's fading wounds.

"Give me that scroll," asked Jiraiya a few moments later, pointing at the scroll still under Hinata's arm.

Naruto nodded distractedly and tugged at the hem of Hinata's yukata, which was bunched up high around her thighs. Her wild moves earlier had sent the pans of her yukata flying, revealing two shapely white legs.

"Naruto, I need that scroll sometime today, so stop ogling her legs and get down to work, will you?"

"I'm not _ogling_!"retorted Naruto in angrily.

"You're not? Well, you're missing out on something my boy."

"Shut up!"

Naruto pushed Hinata carefully off the scroll, which was still stiff with her blood.

He was not too sure about how he felt about her having seen the Kyuubi inside of him. Sure, she was not the first one to witness it, but Killer Bee was a Jinchuuriki too, and one who had a very warped idea of what sealed beasts were, at that.

Sasuke was Sasuke. He had lived with Orochimaru's seal for years, so he could understand Naruto without judging him, but... Meeting with the Kyuubi must have been quite a shock for Hinata. Between that and being attacked by that weird Tengu thing, he could not blame the girl for being out cold.

"Naruto! The scroll!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your _fundoshi_ on," mumbled Naruto.

After Jiraiya left with the scroll to try to clean it, Naruto sat down beside Hinata with his _kunai_ pouch and a sharpening stone and set down to work. He was so absorbed in his task that he did not notice right away when Hinata woke up and sat up silently.

"Was I unconscious for long?"

Her sudden question startled Naruto so much he yelped and nearly sent the _kunai_ flying in shock. "Wow, Hinata-chan! Don't surprise me like that!"

"I'm sorry," apologized Hinata.

"No, no, it's okay, it's just, I was thinking you know and- Anyway, how do you feel? You're okay? You're not hurting?"

"No, I feel fine, really," she said softly, inspecting her arm. She tugged lightly at the bandage and peeked at the white skin underneath, only marred by the black ink of the seal. Hinata sighed and brought her hand to her neck for a few seconds.

"Naruto-kun, thank you for helping me back there."

"What? Oh that was nothing! As a matter of fact, Kyuubi did most of the work. Well. Huh," asked Naruto nervously, "you, huh, remember what happened?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Well. Sorry you had to witness that. Kyuubi is not exactly the chummiest youkai around, and he tends to be a bit grumpy in the morning, heh heh heh!" laughed Naruto, rubbing the back of his head forcefully.

"It's okay," Hinata assured him. "How old were you the first time you met it?"

"Kyuubi? Huh, I dunno, 11 or 12? I don't really remember. It was before the chuunin exam, though. Why?"

"When we were kids, I always had the feeling you were very strong, but I could never put my finger on why exactly. Now I understand better."

"Ha, well it's true that I used his chakra from times to times! Well spotted!"

Hinata gave him a puzzled look before shaking her head and smiling shyly.

"Oh, no, I did not mean strong as in physically strong. What I meant was, I always had the feeling you were incredibly strong, mentally speaking, and I admired you for it, but I did not realize at the time where that strength came from. Now I realize how much I underestimated what you had to go through. In a way, I'm glad I met it. Because now I'm not so afraid of the Tengu anymore. When you've seen the Kyuubi, you have seen everything!"

As Naruto stood speechless, gaping at her, Hinata paled slightly.

"I'm sorry! I did not mean to make fun of you, or to say that the Kyuubi is a good thing! You said you were eleven when you met it? I can't even begin to understand how much strength it must have required, to deal with something like the Kyuubi and not to turn insane or give up. I know for sure I would have. But you never give up, right Naruto-kun? That's your _nindou_, right?" said Hinata, offering him a tentative smile.

Naruto blinked a couple of times, before grinning at her.

"Hey Hinata-chan, how come you always come up with the right words?"

"How so?"

"I don't think you remember, but we met, just before the chuunin exam. I was feeling so low at that time, but you talked to me for like, five minutes, and what you said had me completely fired up!" seeing Hinata's face redden, Naruto shook his hands reassuringly, "no, no, don't worry, it's perfectly fine if you don't remember! It's just that well, talking to you on that day really helped me!"

"I… I remember that day," said Hinata in a whisper.

"You do? Wow, that's great! I thought you'd have forgotten! Did you watch the fight afterward? I remember looking out for you, just after winning, but that arena was so damn big, I couldn't spot you."

"I was there, but-"

"Ah, it's okay if you cheered for Neji you know! After all, he is family!"

"No, I really wanted Naruto-kun to win!" said Hinata in an earnest tone.

"Really? Thanks Hinata-chan! I'm glad to know you were watching after all!"

"Come on kids, enough chit-chat," said Jiraiya as he entered the room, "we need to work on tomorrow's mission now if you don't mind."

"Don't you think Hinata should rest?" asked Naruto doubtfully. "I mean, after today's events-"

"Actually," Hinata chimed in, "I feel fine. I'd like to take part to the mission, if possible."

"Really?"

"Really," said Hinata with a serious look on her face.

"Well then," said Naruto, scratching his scalp, "let me debrief you on the basic facts. It's a simple mission really, Wham, Bam, Thank you ma'am stuff-" Naruto caught himself, seeing Hinata's puzzled look, and blurted out instead "err, I mean, in-and-out stuff!"

Jiraiya looked at him and raised an amused eyebrow, before mouthing "Smooth, Lover boy, smooth."

"So, hm," Naruto went on, "it's basic infiltration and assassination stuff. Our target name's Murata, there's a bounty on his head for war crimes in the Cotton Country, but he's been holing himself in Taki for three years now. Apparently, the Cotton Lord has had enough of it, so he transmitted an assassination order to the Fire Lord, who asked Tsunade-baachan, who in turn dropped it on us. Tomorrow is the foundation day of Taki, and it's a holiday, meaning that half of Murata's guard will be off duty, watching the fireworks. The old toad here will take care of the killing bit, I'll be the decoy, and you will be our eyes, literally. Jiraiya managed to lay his grubby hands on the estate's plans, so it's a going to be a piece of cake."

Naruto unrolled a large sheet of paper and started pointing things out to Hinata.

"You see, the main entrance is here, but we'll get in by the northern gate. If we play it nice, we can reach Murata's room in a couple of minutes. The garden is not that huge, but there might be some traps lying around so we'll have to be on our toes. We'll attack during the fireworks, and regroup there, just behind the west gate. Now, what can I tell you about Murata's personal guard? First, there's Iwasaki, you've got to look out for him, and…"

.

.

* * *

.o0O0o.

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.

**Takibana Inn, Room 19, four hours later**

.

.

"… and then I used a _bunshin_ to grab hold of his _kusari-gama_, and wham! I had him down in less than…"

As Naruto was bragging about yet another of his extraordinary feats, Jiraiya watched the girl rub her left arm absentmindedly. Paying no heed to Naruto's ranting, he walked over and squatted beside her.

"Mind if I have a look at your arm, Hinata dear?"

"No problem at all Jiraiya-sensei, go ahead."

Jiraiya tugged at the bandages and was proud to see that his seal was flawless. Sitting in the middle of Hinata's forearm, the round seal was perfectly stable.

"Well, it looks like it healed nicely," he said with a smile.

Hinata marveled at her scar free skin. "It's as if nothing ever happened!"

"Nice, huh? You see, Naruto? Someone's appreciating the measure of my skills."

"Stop praising yourself like that, it's disgusting," spat Naruto.

"So, the Tengu is still in me, but it can't break free?" asked Hinata tentatively.

"That's right," said Jiraiya with a nod, "if it was a Dai Tengu or a Yamabushi Tengu, yeah, maybe it could break free, but it's just a Karasu Tengu, they're not that strong. They just have an awful temper. Plus, this is not just a seal. The simple seals did not work, so I had to come up with something else. It's halfway between a seal and a summoning tattoo."

"So she can summon it?" asked Naruto, his eyebrows rising.

"No, because there's no summoning contract between Hinata and the Tengu. That kind of seal just happened to be convenient, because it creates a delimited area, which was perfect for trapping the Tengu in Hinata's arm. Still talking hypothetically, I think there's a possibility to use the Tengu abilities. In theory. It's a bit like what you can do with the Kyuubi. Only, the Tengu being 1 on the strength scale, and the Kyuubi being, I don't know, 10 000? 100 000?"

"And how helpful would a Tengu be?"

"Using Tengu abilities, huh? Pretty useless I'd say. Well, to be honest, there are a lot of rumors running around. Personally, I don't believe them"

"Hey!" said Naruto, snapping his fingers, "now I remember where I heard that Tengu thing before! Sasuke told me that his brother used a Tengu. He saw it with his own eyes, that was no rumor!"

"Wrong, boy. From the reports I read, Itachi's Yamabushi Tengu was merely the shape his susanoo-o took, and not a summoning. That's a whole different kettle of fish. We don't know much about Tengu summoning. The only thing we have is a scroll by a man named Hattori Hanzou, which goes back a long time ago, even before the great nations were founded. Allegedly, he was able to sign a summoning pact with a Tengu clan. He wrote that it later allowed him to perform Tengu-Kakushi, and granted him lightning-fast speed. He mentioned things about mastering their illusions and telepathy too, but frankly, I'm not sure about the last one."

"You mean that Hinata will be able to use these abilities?" asked Naruto eagerly.

Jiraiya recoiled, as if burned. He looked at the boy's eyes shining with hope. The boundless enthusiasm, the rabid 'teach me!' waves coming from both of the youngsters made the hermit's blood run cold: the kids were starting to behave like pupils! Quick, he needed to dash their hopes before they asked him to teach them stuff!

"Ha, well," he said in a rushed voice, holding one finger up in the air, "the truth is, I don't know anything about it myself. I always thought the man had gotten over-enthusiastic, or had written this after having a drink too much because really, most of what he wrote sounds insane. Hinata, if you want to, I'll lend you the scrolls when I find them, but that's all I can do for you. I modified your seal to give you a better chakra flow and to make sure the Tengu would never harm you. My job stops here."

"I see," said Hinata in a small voice.

Naruto let out a short bark of laughter and shook his head.

"Yeah, I should have known!" he said, throwing his arm over the girl's shoulders before going on in a mock-serious voice, "Hinata-chan, I forgot to tell you, but the thing is? Don't ever except that old man to teach you something. I mean, I find myself lucky if I manage to force him to teach me a jutsu a year.

"You liar!" sputtered Jiraiya indignantly, "why, only last month I taught you how to use Underworld Swamp, and-"

"Wrong!" yelled Naruto, "You just chucked the scrolls at me and I studied by myself while you were off gallivanting around! Hinata-chan, never ask him to teach you something, there's no knowing what horrible things could happen to you. He's the sink-or-swim type, he once threw me off a cliff to force me to summon a decent frog!"

"Well, that worked, didn't it?"asked Jiraiya.

"Whatever", grunted Naruto. His hand still fastened over the girl's shoulders, he leaned closer and whispered in the girl's ear, "don't listen to him, Hinata-chan. He's not bad when it comes to ranting about the meaning of life and such, but he plainly sucks at teaching jutsu. Trust me!"

With a smirk at his mentor and a last squeeze at the girl's shoulder, Naruto stood up.

Jiraiya noted the faint pink hue dusting the girl's cheeks and narrowed his eyes. Was she… flustered? _Great_, he thought. Romance, that just what he needed right now, with shitty missions piling up, his spying network being infiltrated and the boy pining for Konoha. Love between teammates was a time-bomb, and one way or another, it always ended badly. _But hell, who am I to lecture her? _he thought.

"This said, folks," piped Naruto, "it's 6 pm and duty calls."

"Duty? Don't make me laugh," snorted Jiraiya contemptuously, "Aiko is the sweetest girl ever. Don't make her wait, or Takiko will blame me again."

"Oh come on, you'll sweet-talk yourself out of it, like the last time. Good evening Hinata-chan, rest well!"

"Good riddance, brat"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and winked at Hinata before leaving, whistling loudly in the hallway.

Jiraiya had watched Hinata carefully during the exchange, and he now had his answer: the girl face had clearly fallen when he had mentioned Aiko's name and made it clear that Naruto had been off to meet a prostitute.

Well, Jiraiya reflected, if the girl thought that Naruto was having hot, sweaty sex right now, this was none of his business. He was too old to comfort heartbroken damsels.

Right.

Except that he had always been a sucker for women fighting back tears. He could not resist the way their cheeks and nose suddenly colored, the fluttering eyelashes and the whole lower-lip biting business. That, and the fact that Jiraiya knew his limits: while he was pretty sure he could deal with lovesick puppy-eyes, angst snuffles were definitely not his cuppa. So he mentally kicked himself in the backside for what he was about to do, but went on nonetheless.

The girl was not looking at him, she was still staring at the door, her mouth set in a straight line. Jiraiya cleared his throat.

"Hinata my dear, I must share a terrible secret with you, but you must never tell Naruto what I'm about to tell you. As you heard, Naruto is now visiting a prostitute."

The girl's face turned greyer.

"Jiraiya-sensei, I think this is none of my-"

"It's so shameful," added Jiraiya in a rushed voice, "I kept it to myself, all these months, but I can't anymore! You see, when Naruto goes to visit a lady, he just," Jiraiya paused dramatically to increase the tension, before saying in a dead voice, "he just talks."

"I-… Pardon me?"

"He just talks to them! It's like he doesn't know what they're there for! Gods only know what he can talk about for so long, he must bore them to death with small talk. 'So, how is the trade, lately?' 'The weather is _lovely_, isn't it?'", yapped Jiraiya, mimicking Naruto's voice, waiting anxiously for the girl reaction. As her expression slowly turned from chagrin and shock to bewilderment, the old man decided to lay it even thicker, and whined in a high-pitched voice: " 'I say, these sesame dumplings are simply _scrumptious_!'"

Hinata tried to hide her smile behind her yukata sleeve, but the old man could see the amused glint in her eyes. Jiraiya just loved to have an audience, so he went on, unabashed.

"This is no laughing matter, woman! Do you realize what this means? Naruto is 19 and he still doesn't know how to properly satisfy a woman! Worse, he doesn't even see the point! Allow me to explain myself: yesterday you were completely drunk. Very adorable and all, of course, but still, you were commode-hugging drunk. Now, what would a proper man have done? I'll tell you, he would have ravished your lovely drunk self again and again, shagging you senseless 'til dawn. Now, what did Wonder boy do? Nothing. He slept like the drunk skunk he was, and drooled on the pillow to boot. He's hopeless."

"Jiraiya-sensei," stammered the girl, her face so red Jiraiya got afraid he had gone too far, "don't be too harsh! Naruto-kun is a really nice and reliable person."

"Nice? Reliable? I don't care about reliable! Hinata, I am a self-proclaimed super-pervert, how can I have a pupil who doesn't peek at naked women, who doesn't even _sleep_ with prostitutes? It's so embarrassing! Oh, Hinata," Jiraiya moaned, letting some despair show in his broken voice, "I failed."

"What did you fail, Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Everything! I was not able to teach my pupil the importance of life's most pleasurable activity, and joy of using his body to enjoy life's greatest present. I'm so ashamed! I have failed my predecessors! My pupil is _asexual_!" Jiraiya wailed, pulling at his hair. He went on moaning pathetically, "Naruto is 19 and he has the sex drive of a newt! Oh gods, why do you try me so?"

The hermit slid dramatically in a heap on the floor, sobbing loudly and pounding at the tatami mats with his balled fists. He discreetly cracked an eye open to survey the girl's reaction.

"Jiraiya-sensei, you should not be so harsh on yourself," the girl whispered, hesitating, clearly not knowing whether he was serious or not. As she tentatively tried to pat his shoulder, she added: "I'm sure everything will be all right in the end!"

Jiraiya rolled over swiftly and grabbed her hands before gushing in a pleading voice: "Yes! Yes! You _are_ right! Hope is not lost after all, since I have a new pupil now! All my hopes are now resting on your shoulders, woman! The Lust must go on!"

Hinata's mouth fell open, her pink lips forming a perfect O.

"I… I'm afraid I can't, Jiraiya-sensei," she said feebly, trying to wring her hands out of his grasp.

Jiraiya released her hands and huffed dejectedly:

"What, you too? No one understands my plight."

The Hermit watched as the girl hid another smile behind her hand. That was better, he decided. Moping was so overrated.

"Ah well," said Jiraiya sitting up and deciding that jumping from one subject to another was the best wayto keep the girl from thinking too much, "if you're not interested in the joys of sex, young lady, we might as well work on tomorrow's mission, then. Tell me a bit more about your abilities, we'll see how we can improve our success rate."

Jiraiya ordered some _yakitori_ and _kushiyaki_ to nibble on while discussing of the best attack angle. He tried to convince Hinata to drink some beer with him, but she politely declined, saying that she wanted to keep a clear head. Jiraiya questioned her about her techniques, and was surprised to discover that the girl had not limited herself to Hyuuga jutsu.

After two hours of haggling over what the best formation would be, Hinata being deceptively stubborn, Jiraiya finally folded all his maps, and after a last pat on the girl's shoulder, he sent her back to her room, telling her to rest well, for the next day would be trying.

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* * *

.o0O0o.

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**Takibana Inn, Room 8, 01:23 am**

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Hinata could not sleep.

She hugged her pillow tighter and huffed in exasperation. With her first mission in her new team coming up, she needed to be at her best. Without mentioning that today's events had positively drained her. She still did not know how to feel about Tengu episode, so she carefully ignored it altogether. She would deal with that particular problem _later_.

And a new team! She was not sure it was a good thing either. Her first and only team experience had been so great she was afraid to be disappointed this time. How she missed working with Shino and Kiba. Hinata knew she was not cut out for teamwork, that was true enough, but the Team 8 had been so much more than just teamwork. It had been her first family, in a way. That was another reason behind her refusal to be reassigned in another tracking team: nothing could be as good as what Team 8 had been.

Tomorrow, a new part of her life began. She needed to be at her best.

'_Hinata_!'

But she could not sleep.

'_You're fun, Hinata-chan!'_

She shut her eyes tighter, trying to block out the memories.

"_Hey Hinata-chan, how come you always come up with the right words?"_

Naruto.

Hinata wanted to spend every single minute of her time with him. It had been so _fun_, the night before! She wanted every day of her life to be like that. For the first time in years, she had felt alive. Her crush was definitely not dead, and her mind was happily feeding it memories, effectively bring the old flame back to its former glory.

She was craving for Naruto's presence. She could still feel the warmth of his touch on her skin. It was the first time since she could remember she had been that physically close to someone. Sure, there had been the occasional hug from Kurenai-sensei, and Kiba's rough and enthusiastic nudging.

But she had slept _on_ Naruto! She could still feel his warmth; feel his arms tightening around her this morning when Jiraiya had entered the room, and-

"Agn," Hinata grunted, rolling on her stomach, squishing the pillow over her head in a desperate attempt to block out the thoughts.

A shiver ran down her spine. The heat in the room was stifling, but she had never felt so cold in her life.

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* * *

.o0O0o.

**End of**

**Drastic Holiday**, Chapter Three: **Drastic Seals**

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TBC in: Drastic Holiday, Chapter Four:** Drastic Decision** (a.k.a. : Hurt, comfort, and peonies)

Where :

Moles

Jiraiya falls for it

Naruto draws the first blood

Hinata hesitates, but does the right thing

Hinata is not so sure she did the right thing, after all

We learn what Naruto's hobby is, and what exactly it means to him.

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.o0O0o.

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The whole Kiba/civilian/doggy-style/**Sai reading IchaIcha** incident? It's all explained in **Bumpy Rumpy Tumpty** (one-shot, 4000 words).

Kinoshita: under the tree, Makito : whirl, man

**Weaboo time: ****Tengu** : There are many sorts of Tengu, the weakest being the 'crow Tengu' (Karasu Tengu, the one Hinata has in her), and others being Dai Tengu, Konoha Tengu, Yamabushi Tengu (the strongest ones, Itachi's Susanoo). All Tengu are not bad, they just have a really bad rep, especially the weakest ones. Tengu are heavily associated with fighting techniques, bladesmithing crafts and ninja.

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If you **have the time** to **push** the **fav' button**, you have the time to **leave a review**. 8D

**Thank you** for your time.

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**ETA :** I'm so **not giving up** on this baby! I'm just really **busy** right now, I'm moving so I need to pack my whole house, find a new one abroad, find a new job and don't forget to take the cat and the hubby along. Actually, it's very much a period I'd like to call **'The Crazies'** 8S

But as soon as the Crazies are over, which should be around **April**, I'll be back to working regularly on this baby! I'll try to upload the next chapter before that tho, seeing as I already have a draft typed down.

In the meantime, go read some great fics by authors like **Lisse**, **The Sh33p**, **Nugar**, **Emmy Kay**, **Inuyatta**, **Mistress of Sarcasm** and **iamzull** (all in my faves) ^^


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